Imagination Is A Tricky thing- Story 1- Imaginary Friends (Verse 4)
by MistyMay6886
Summary: When Alec was young he had an imaginary friend…he was amazing; fearless, funny, incredibly smart, and completely unique. He was magical… Literally…he could do magic. Now those days are long past, Alec is grown; he works as a highly respected detective and hasn't really thought about his imaginary friend in years… At least he hadn't… until one day he get a VERY unexpected visitor.
1. Chapter 1

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albums/hh638/AceOfHearts6886/Verse%204Imaginary%20Friends_

When Alec was young he had an imaginary friend… he felt closer to him than anyone... he was _**amazing**_; fearless, funny, incredibly smart, and completely unique. He was magical…

_Literally…he could do __**magic**__._

He even had an unusual name: _Magnus_

Now those days are long past, Alec is grown; he works as a highly respected detective and hasn't really thought about his imaginary friend in years…

At least he _hadn't_… until one day he get a VERY unexpected visitor.

_What's going on?_

Has he lost it? Or was it something more than his imagination all along. For Alec it's been decades since he last saw Magnus…

_For Magnus, it's been __**far**__ longer…_

_Chapter Complete!_

***Blanket Note For All Verses 3-9***

_Kay, so here's the thing, originally I was planning on starting these kinda in shifts, but I'm impatient and I really want to get this stuff going…_

_So over the next three weeks I am going to be starting universes_

_3-9_

_****(10 won't start till the others are well underway for a very specific reason)****_

_So some of them may take a bit to update but I will have the 1st half of chapter 1 up for all of them by May 10th (I'm setting me a deadline damnit)_

_The SEM Verse is still my main focus right now and will still be updated at least once a week…the others updates will be a bit more random depending on which one my mind is running with at that moment_

_I know it seems like a lot and not gonna lie that's cause it IS but my mind has been running with these for over a year now, I think it'll work out just fine…_

_All the universes I will most likely just update half a chapter at a time__._ _The 1st stories of them will mainly just be introducing our characters and getting a feel for the world so- with the exception of the 40's with a twist the 1st stories will only be 8 chapters,_

_Kay onto our regularly scheduled program_

Okay here's another one, this was actually one of the 1st Verses I came up with, right after my mind ran away with the whole multiverse thing. This one should be pretty unique, it's not based on a movie or show (At least not one I've ever seen) Just a kinda random idea.

Because it's not based on any show I know I don't really have much as far as source material goes so I'm just kinda letting my mind run with this and seeing where it goes…

My mind runs an insane amount so this may be a bad idea, but if anything I'm pretty sure it'll be entertaining…

_So, it's an Imaginary friend verse, Imagination seems to be the theme…how about we see where MY imagination takes us?_

_**Chapter 1:**_

_**Just A Little Imagination**__**…**_

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_Santa Barbra Ca. _

_27 Years ago__…_

"No Mags! Red is jump, the black one is run, you're getting them mixed up again!" Alec instructed, tapping impatiently on Magnus's shoulder, peering over his shoulder at the screen for their usual 'video game lesson'.

Magnus huffed faintly, pouting, glancing over at him,

"Na uh…You said it was the other way round last time! I know it! I think you're just trying to confuse me to make sure I can't beat you at it."

Alec laughed brightly, rolling his eyes,

"Right like I have to do that! You totally suck at video games!"

_"I do not!_ I jus' don't get as much practice as you!"

Alec smirked, nudging him playfully,

"It's not practice, it's skill."

Magnus rolled his eyes

"It's not 'skill' it's just mashing buttons really quickly."

"Not 'really quickly'…just quicker than you…"

Magnus gasped, giving his best challenging six year old glare,

"Oh yeah?"

Alec smirked, quirking his eyebrow

"Yeah."

Magnus smirked right back, golden cat eyes glimmering brilliantly, turning back to the screen. He's hands shimmered with bright violet sparkles, buttons flickering faster than the eye could follow, his character on the screen rushing ahead, practically flying through the level

_"HEY! No magic, that's cheating!"_

Magnus smirked,

"Is not! There's nothing 'bout it in the book."

"Of course there's not! It's Magic! The people who make it don't know 'bout magic stuff!"

Magnus shook his head animatedly,

"Uh uh, you don't know that- I asked you how they made it and you didn't know- maybe they used magic too…which makes it okay and totally _**not**_cheating!"

Alec huffed, shaking his head quickly,

"They did not! It's not magic it's technolothingies, you know; super confusing, complicated stuff really smart people do with computers and processers and all of that kinda thing. It's just like with TV or the stereo or videos or whatever else. I don't know how it works, but just cause I don't it doesn't mean it's magic. It's not 'magic', just real complicated."

Magnus scoffed,

"You don't know that, maybe they're warlocks and just hiding behind fancy, complicated computer mumbo jumbo."

"Yeah I do!"

"Uh uh!"

"Uh huh!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"N-"

"Hey Alec, what'cha doing?" Izzy asked, pulling the door to the blanket fort back, settling next to her brother, glancing at the little TV with the game console hooked up to it,

Alec huffed,

"Me and Mag's were playing videogames but he's cheating by using magic."

_"I'm not cheating!"_

"Are too"

"A-"

Izzy's eyes went bright, looking around expectantly,

"Ooh! Magnus is here? Hi Magnus!" She said excitedly, animatedly waving, glancing around the fort eagerly,

"Hi Izzy! I'm not cheating!" Magnus chirped, waving back,

Alec nodded to his left.

"He's over here, and he says hi back."

Magnus nudged Alec,

"I said more…"

Alec rolled his eyes,

"He also said he's not cheating but he totally is."

"Am not! It says nothing about not using magic in the book so it's NOT cheating! Ask Izzy! She'll agree with me!"

Alec huffed, rolling his eyes,

"He said using magic is not cheating cause it doesn't say you can't in the rule book, but it totally is, right?" he asked expectantly,

"Hmm…" Izzy tapped her chin, giving the serious contemplation to the issue only a four year old mediating an argument between her brother and his imaginary friend could muster,

Finally she sighed, giving a slightly apologetic shrug,

"Sorry Alec, if it doesn't say it in the rule book than it's not a rule."

Magnus gave a triumphant crow, pointing at him animatedly,

"Ha! Told ya so…Thanks Iz."

Alec huffed, pouting,

"He said thanks…You always take his side!"

Again she shrugged,

"Hey, I can't help it if your imaginary friend is right…whenever you're right I'll side with you…"

Magnus grinned,

"Has to happen sometime, right?"

_"Hey!"_ Alec nudged him, glaring and pouting even more,

Magnus giggled, leaning over, pressing a smacking kiss to his cheek, Alec blushed brightly,

"Sorry Alec…you know we're just playing. You're right plenty of the time, just not about this."

Izzy tilted her head faintly,

"Why are you blushing?"

Alec blushed brighter, shaking his head quickly,

"Nothin'…umm…I'm done with video games, let's do something else…" he mumbled, hitting the save button on the game setting the controller aside.

Izzy nodded brightly,

"Oh! You guys can help me catch the lizards!"

_"Lizards?"_ Alec and Magnus asked excitedly,

Izzy nodded quickly

"Uh huh, that's why I came to find you! I was over by the old stump in the yard and saw a couple little tiny ones run under a rock. I think there may be a bunch more! We have the fish tank in the garage we could put them in! We could make a little terr-tirir-lizard home thingy like they had at the zoo!"

Alec nodded excitedly, beginning to move towards the door of their little fort, Magnus and Izzy following along,

Magnus glanced over curiously at Alec and Izzy,

"What kind of lizards are they?"

Alec shrugged,

"Don't know, I didn't see them. Iz? Magnus wants to know what kind of lizards they are…"

Izzy shrugged,

"I'unno, the little ones with the bright blue belly I think…"

Alec glanced over at Magnus

"Blue bellies…"

Magnus's steps faltered,

"Umm…my fire stopping spells aren't really great yet, shouldn't we have a bucket of water or something handy?"

It was Alec's turn to stumble,

"Umm…what?"

Magnus tilted his head,

"Aren't those the kind of lizards that breath the bright blue flames?"

Alec blinked a few times, shaking his head slowly,

"Uhh…no…blue bellies do not breath fire- bright blue or any other color."

Izzy giggled, shaking her head,

Magnus shrugged,

"Well the last one I brought home ended up almost burning down the entire west tower…I'm having water close by just in case."

Alec gave a bright giggle, shaking his head affectionately, slipping his arm around Magnus's shoulders, squeezing,

"Never change Mags…"

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_Hmmm…_

Alec groaned, rolling over, stretching, blinking away the memory with a slight, almost laugh.

_Man, where'd that come from?_

He hasn't thought about 'Magnus' in years. Magnus had always seemed so real back then, from the first time he met him all the way up to the last. By now the memories have long sense faded, but they were still some of the happiest times in his childhood.

Looking back he can't believe he had such an active imagination growing up;

_An imaginary warlock best friend…_

He still had no idea where he'd got that.

Especially given how levelheaded and practical he grew up to be (Izzy'd say boring but he preferred his wording). It'd seemed so very real back then. Him and Mags and Izzy running around, playing games, having adventures…

It had been so boring when Magnus had suddenly stopped showing up.

He sighed, rubbing at his face,

Aaannd…that's why he didn't think back too often. Thinking back to the fun times also reminded him of how upsetting it was when Magnus suddenly stopped coming around. Alec never could figure out what changed, why it happened; Magnus disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

It took nearly a year for him to totally get over it, move on and accept that it was all just his imagination…

_It'd just always seemed so very real._

It probably would have taken much longer, but that was the year his parents had adopted Jace, they'd actually been talking about it for a few weeks before Magnus's disappearance. Having a new little brother helped a lot, though he couldn't help but wonder what it'd of been like getting to spend time with both of them.

It was probably for the best anyways; definitely would have had to happen fairly soon. Eight was already a bit old to have an imaginary friend.

_Jace probably would have gotten a real kick out of Magnus though._

He shook his head faintly once more, stretching, climbing out of bed, grabbing his clothes for the day off the chair, making his way in to shower and get ready for work.

Enough reminiscing about bittersweet childhood memories…that was a LONG time ago…

Besides it would have probably been a bit difficult to make it though academy and his detective training if he still had an imaginary friend…Though having an invisible warlock's help probably would've made it a hell of a lot easier…

Psych eveals probably would've been a bit tricky though.

_1 hour later_

Alec bounded up the steps of the precinct, slowing a bit at an all too familiar sight. He sighed, rolling his eyes faintly, approaching,

"-orry detective, really, it won't happen again, I swear. I'll fix it right now! Promise!" Officer Byrd stammered wide eyed, looking just on the edge of hyperventilating.

Raphael tilted his head, dark eyes flickering, sharply,

"See that it doesn't."

Byrd nodded like a bobble head,

"It won't, it _absolutely_ won't. Again I am so, SO sorry; I really didn't know."

Alec glanced between the two men,

"So…what's going on here guys?"

Byrd swallowed

"I-I accidently parked in Detective Santiago's spot. I'm really sorry! I had absolutely no idea detectives had assigned parking spots. Like I said I'll fix it right away, I'll go move my car right now."

Raphael quirked his eyebrow,

"So why are you still standing here?"

"Oh! Right!" Byrd flailed again, about facing and all but running down the stairs towards the parking structure like hellhounds were on his heels.

Alec rolled not only his eyes, but his whole head, looking sarcastically over at his partner,

"Raphael what are you doing? We don't have assigned parking."

Raphael shrugged, smirking,

"Hey, I parked there twice…and I absolutely would have today. If I didn't just catch a ride with Divya as my cars in the shop. Oh, by the way I need you to drop me by Mack's so I can pick it up at noon."

Alec groaned,

"So you didn't even have a car today and you're hassling the poor, jumpy rookie about stealing your parking spot? Raphael, what have I told you about tormenting the rookies? It's really not professional."

He smirked,

"Kinda fun though."

Alec tilted his head towards the front of the precinct; Raphael waved him off,

"Nah, we're good, all ready to go."

Alec nodded, beginning back down the steps, heading back to the parking structure, Raphael falling into step next to him.

Raphael glanced over, rolling his eyes exasperatedly,

"Lighten up Boyscout; the kid's fine, I didn't scare him THAT bad. Just having a bit of fun. Besides the guy's so high strung and jittery, the bit of a jog will probably help him burn off some of that excess, nervous energy.

That fidgetiness is just flat out unsafe in the field of law enforcement.

Really I'm just looking out for the kid."

Alec outright laughed at that, shaking his head in disbelief,

"Yeah, you're a real altruist."

Raphael smirked, giving a playful wink,

"Exactly."

Alec shook his head once more, glancing over at his partner.

"So what's on the agenda today?"

Raphael shrugged,

"We got a few leads on the Sorenson case, the ballistics came back on the gun…seems it was used in a B and E in Orange County three years ago. Figure we can see if any of our suspects have ties to OC."

Alec nodded,

"That's good, I think I remember seeing Donavan had some family there, might be a good place to start."

Raphael nodded, reaching for the passenger door,

"Maravilloso."

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

"Just remember-"

Raphael huffed, rolling his eyes,

"I know, I know, 'don't scare the suspect', 'don't threaten the suspect', don't make the suspect cry', blah, blah, blah."

Alec pointed,

"Also, don't flirt with the suspect. We really don't need another mess like with Jaden last year…he still sends flowers to the precinct for you.

I have no idea how he's ordering them from the state penitentiary."

Raphael chuckled, shrugging,

"Hey, can't help it if I make a lasting impression."

"Yeah well, try not to make _quite_ so lasting of impression, I don't want to be fielding rights questions from attorneys or lovestruck calls from soon to be defendants."

Again Raphael gave a noncommittal shrug,

"I will do my best."

Alec rolled his eyes once more,

_He liked the guy, quite a bit in fact. He's actually the best partner Alec's had…and weirdly enough has become one of his closest friends…_

_But not gonna lie;_

_Raphael was a LOT of work._

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Aww… this made me smile…

Kay, so I think this verse we'll use the flashbacks like in Psych it's Magnus, I think it'll fit really well with this- and how adorable is it with little Magnus and Alec palling around?

I know the second part was a bit of a downer at first but I promise it'll all work out…besides all will be explained soon enough.

As you can see I decided to mix it up a bit, just for a bit of variety. I like Alec and Raphael as partners.

Also good news, I have this entire 1st story planned out, so I actually know where were going with this now!

_So what do you guys think so far?_

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*** 17 ***


	2. 2- Dream Team

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_Chapter 2:_ _Dream Team_

A little glimpse of Alec and Raphael as partners

Alec gets an unexpected visitor…

Notes

_Chapter Complete!_

_**(FYI to those reading on , I'm only updating here when I have the completed chapters On AO3 I will updated **__**½**__** a chapter at a time.)**_

Yay, got the entire 2nd chapter done, I really love Alec and Raphael as partners, I think their relationship is gonna be really great to work with here.

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

"What did I tell you?-

What did I _specifically_ tell you NOT to do?" Alec grumbled exasperatedly as they climbed back in the car, shooting an annoyed look over to his partner.

Raphael gave a dismissive shrug,

"Hey it worked, didn't it? We got the info- Donavan's sister lives in OC- the B and E happened over the holiday break, when he was staying with her family…we have detailed records.

We got him dead to rights…

We're good."

Alec rolled his eyes

"Yeah we got him…And you 'got' a new fan.

I told you NO flirting…

We don't have room for more flowers around the precinct! The break room looks like a waiting room in a funeral home."

Raphael chuckled,

"Hey first off you said no flirting with the _**suspects**_; Owen wasn't a suspect, he's Donavan's boss, totally different concept.

Besides, I don't think we have to worry about the flower thing- doesn't really strike me as the 'flower' type. More likely he'd send a nice bottle of wine. The guy yammered on for over half an hour about his families' vineyard and his rare wine collection."

Alec shook his head, chuckling faintly,

"Think he was just trying to impress you…or get you to come back to his place."

Raphael scoffed,

"Yeah…after we have the case all wrapped up, his statement on record and Donavan out of the way I probably should pull him aside and tell him trying to entice a total stranger into your basement generally gives people the wrong impression. Also that announcing to someone you met twenty minutes ago that you have an obscenely expensive wine collection and live alone is a great way to end up a missing person."

"Probably a good idea." Alec snickered, glancing over at him, quirking his eyebrow,

Raphael shrugged,

"What?"

"I just really don't get it with you…no offense."

Raphael chuckled shaking his head, waving him off,

"None taken- actually I am perfectly happy you DON'T get it…probably why we work so well together, means I can be myself around you.

And there's nothing really to 'get'- It's just a knack. I've always been good at reading people, spotting weaknesses, manipulating them, using those to my advantage. Flirting is simply manipulation with a nicer name.

It's the same basic principal behind intimidating someone, or an actual fight come to think of it- assess the situation, find the other persons weakness, target said weakness, simple as that."

Alec blinked a few times, before shaking his head slightly in disbelief,

"Not gonna lie…that's kinda disturbing."

Raphael shrugged unconcerned,

"Hey, as I said, I can truly be myself around you...'Myself' can be kinda disturbing…but it does tends to have its advantages."

Alec gave a sharp laugh, nodding,

"I am so glad you decided to use your powers for good instead of evil."

"Eh, I looked into it; retirement benefits for supervillains are crap-plus I don't really have the theatrical flair to pull all of that off."

Alec snorted,

"Have to agree to disagree on that one."

Raphael chuckled, tilting his head contemplatingly,

"You know…I DO look great in all black…"

Alec rolled his eyes,

"You're _**not**_ becoming a supervillian…Also we live in Santa Barbra- There are no supervillains in Santa Barbra."

"Not yet…"

Alec groaned, laughing,

"Stop it…"

"You can't tell me what to do…"

Alec shook his head, rubbing at his face,

"Oh my god…I'm gonna be responsible for Santa Barbra's first supervillian, I just know it."

Raphael smirked,

"Yup, all your fault…that's the origin story."

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

"Your 'origin story' is that you're a stubborn jackass who became a supervillian just cause someone told you you couldn't?"

He chuckled,

"Hey there are worse ones…"

"No there's not."

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"-you know, like an even more boring, morally upright, stuffy version of Captain America? Has a good ring to it, and you're already known by it anyways s-"

"_Only by you!"_

Raphael chuckled, climbing out of the car, smirking,

"No…I'm just the only one brave enough to call you it to your face…there are plenty of others…"

Alec rolled his eyes, once more falling into step beside him,

"Oh like I'm buying that- you're just trying to screw with me…but it won't work as I'm immune to your weirdly charismatic intimidation manipulation skills. And I would not be 'The Boyscout'- That is NOT going to be my superhero name."

Raphael scoffed,

"Yeah, it totally is Boyscout, just accept it. And no you're not…I just let you think that…"

"You do not!"

Raphael quirked his eyebrow,

"Really? Then why did we have lunch from Amari's when you wanted Geino's subs?"

Alec gave a kind of flippant wave,

"Because Geino's was all the way across town and Amari's was just a block away from Donavan's old apartment that we decided to check to see if any of his neighbors could tell us anything…Which was my idea since he skipped out on his lease and left the place a total mess…"

Raphael nodded,

"Yes it was…_After_ I was complaining that his current neighbors, in his new apartment- just across the street from Geino's- were giving us nothing and mentioned that they probably wouldn't be so tightlipped if they saw how he left his last place…"

Alec's steps faltered, glancing over at him, shaking his head, giving a heatless glare,

"You really are a supervillian."

Raphael chuckled, giving a playful, kind of cheeky, wink,

"Hey, everyone needs a hobby."

Alec rolled his eyes,

"Can't you just take up stamp collecting or painting or something?"

"Stamps are boring…and art is a window into the artists psyche and soul…do you REALLY want something that gives you more of a glimpse into my mind?"

Alec gave an exaggerated shiver, shaking his head quickly,

"Yeah, never mind, forget I asked…just try to keep the mind games to playfully tormenting as opposed to outright evil, kay? I don't want to have to take down my best friend and partner."

Raphael laughed,

"Like you could take me."

"Hey! I have like half a foot and a good forty pounds on you."

Raphael quirked his eyebrow,

"Yeah, and?"

_Okay, yeah, he's seen Raphael in a fight, he may have a point there…_

_Still…_

"Just saying…"

Raphael chuckled, patting his shoulder firmly, waving him off,

"Don't worry Boyscout; you're my best friend, that wouldn't happen. I could never actually turn against you…"

"Good to know." Alec laughed faintly,

Raphael gave a slight shrug, picking up the pace a bit as they approached the steps to the precinct,

"I'd just use my amazing manipulation skills to trick you into being my sidekick."

Alec gave a surprised bark of a laugh, hurrying up the steps, catching up to him, pulling the door open,

"Oh like hell you would! And I'm not a 'sidekick'; I'm no one's sidekick…if anything you'd be MY sidekick."

Raphael outright laughed at that,

"When was your last psych exam? May be time for another as clearly you are delusional."

Alec scoffs, quirking his eyebrow,

"Says the Supervillian in training?"

Raphael, shrugged,

"Point taken but st-"

"Hey Alec y-" Officer Wayans trailed off, stopping in his tracks at the look Raphael shot him,

"I was speaking."

Alec had to roll his eyes at that,

_Oh yeah, no 'over dramatic flair' there at all…he's so getting him like a black cape and an eye patch for his next birthday_

Wayans gulped, blinking,

"Oh…umm…s-sorry Detective Santiago I didn't mean to I just…"

Alec rolled his eyes once more, stepping a bit in front of Raphael, waving him off,

"Ignore him, it's fine Wayans…what's up?"

Wayans glanced hesitantly once more over at Raphael before giving a slight nod, looking back at Alec,

"Oh, yeah, I really am sorry to interrupt but I just thought you should know you had a visitor, and he's been waiting a while…" he glanced once more apologetically over at Raphael,

"I really am sorry for interrupting; I just wanted to let him know as soon as he got back." he trailed off, cheeks flushing, expression getting a bit dreamy and far away, giving an almost wistful sigh, faintly shaking his head,

"I really, _really_ didn't think Alec would want to miss seeing this guy."

Raphael waved him off, interest peaked by the rather odd reaction Wayans had to his 'visitor', glancing over at Alec curiously,

"Were you expecting someone?"

Alec shook his head, glancing back at Wayans,

"No I wasn't…Is it something about a case?"

Wayans shook his head,

"No, he said you guys were friends when you were kids and he was in town for a while so he wanted to get together and catch up."

Alec blinked in confusion, shaking his head faintly,

"That seems pretty odd…did it seem like he was telling the truth. I mean maybe that was just a ploy or something…"

Wayans gave a slightly scoffing laugh, shaking his head,

"Dude whatever it is I'd happily take him up on it…umm…s-sir." he trailed off sheepishly, blushing more at his slip up.

Raphael quirked his eyebrow at the officer who just blushed more,

"Sorry, that was totally unprofessional…a-anyways, he seemed like he was telling the truth, and he's been waiting in the break room for almost an hour, so if it is some kind of ploy or whatever it has to be about something important."

Alec sighed, giving a slight nod,

That was true…if it was just something casual the guy surely would have left by now, and they're in the middle of the precinct, if it's a criminal or something looking him up because of a past case or whatever it's not like anyone's stupid enough to try anything here- and going by Wayans reaction the guy can't appear to be much of a threat.

Raphael glanced over at him, Alec waved him off,

"I'm sure it's fine; worst case scenario it's someone ticked off about the outcome of a case, we're in the middle of a police precinct, it'll be fine…and hey, maybe they are telling the truth and it's an old friend I lost touch with.

That could be good…" he paused, glancing back at Wayans,

"Hey, you did get a name for them, right?"

Wayans nodded quickly,

"Yeah, he said his name is Magnus…

Magnus Bane."

Alec froze,

"What?"

He shook his head faintly. Raphael quirked his eyebrow, instantly on alert,

"Do you know a Magnus Bane?"

Alec swallowed, shaking his head faintly,

"Umm…n-w-well…yeah…kinda…umm…it's complicated."

Raphael tilted his head, gaze going sharp,

"Do you want me to go talk to this 'Magnus Bane' first, get a read on the guy?"

Alec swallowed, shaking his head,

"N-no…it's fine…I'm sure there's some rational explanation…and the best way to find it would be to talk to the guy myself and see what's up."

"I cou-"

Alec smiled, waving him off,

"Raphael, it's fine, I got it. I'm sure it's nothing; I just haven't heard that name in a long time, that's all. Can you maybe finish up the Sorenson case? I'll see what this is, get it sorted out, than catch up with you later?"

He tilted his head, sharp, dark eyes flickering over Alec looking for any signs of deception. Finally he shrugged,

"Of course, no problem, Alec. If you decide you need anything else- or this isn't 'nothing' and you need a hand just let me know. Whatever it is I got your back."

Alec chuckled, nodding, giving a grateful smile,

"I know, thanks partner."

Raphael flashed a quick wink and a kind of unsure smile, before turning heading over to his desk.

Alec couldn't help a slight smile, feeling a bit of the confusion of all this falling away, if anything he had backup. He turned back to Wayans who was beginning to look kinda nervous, like he dropped the ball here (He kind of did, but Alec couldn't really bring himself to call the guy out on it- He'd be more vigilant next time) he flashed a slightly reassuring smile,

"Thanks, I appreciate you letting me know so quickly. I'll just go see what's up…thanks again."

Wayans, nodded, still looking a bit unsure,

"No problem...I-He really does seem sincere, and I couldn't see the guy being a threat…h-he seems really nice…And I know it sounds really odd the 'childhood friends' thing but I- Alec I REALLY think you'll at least want to see this guy…"

Alec quirked his eyebrow questioningly,

"I take it he's kinda hot?"

Wayans snorted,

"When he came in Cato nearly fell out of his chair and Phineas walked smack into the wall."

Alec gave a surprised laugh, nodding,

"Okay, well now I guess I have to at least go see the guy…Have a good one Wayans."

He breathed a sigh of relief, nodding,

"You too detective."

Alec chuckled, turning from Wayans, making his way to the break room, trying to figure out what was going on….

So someone came to visit him at his precinct claiming to be his childhood imaginary friend…

_Oookay…gotta admit, that's a weird one._

_On the plus side it'd rule out people disgruntled about random cases, so that's a good thing…_

_Not that any other option made any more sense._

This had to be some kind of joke…that's the only explanation, the only thing that made any sense whatsoever.

_But who w…_

Alec groaned, rolling his eyes,

_**Damnit Jace…**_

That had to be it…

Can't believe he actually got Officer Wayans to play along. The guy did have a slightly 'Jace' like sense of humor, and he did fancy himself as a part time actor, but he wouldn't have thought the guy would've been brave enough to prank the head detective.

Credit where credits due, he had no idea the guy was that good of an actor- maybe next time he invites the people at the precinct to one of his theater troops plays Alec may have to actually go and check it out.

So what did Jace actually TELL Wayans about who this 'Magnus' was?

Jace always teased him, saying Magnus was his first crush...That the fact his imaginary friend was a cute, flamboyant, 'magical' boy who sometimes played with makeup and jewelry should've been his first clue he was gay,

_Which…o-okay…he __**may**__ have accidently stumbled into a point there but that's irrelevant._

_**What the hell did the jackass tell Officer Wayans?**_

_Oh so help him, if something starts going around the precinct about Head Detective Lightwoods imaginary friend/crush he was SO getting him back…__**big time…**_

He may not be sneaky and underhanded enough to get something over on Jace and make him regret this little prank, but he'll just tag in _**Raphael**_ . Then all he has to do is set back and watch the fireworks-

Jace won't know what hit him.

He shook his head faintly as he reached the door to the break room. Of course it was closed, the idiot wanting the best reaction to his little scheme.

Already rolling his eyes in anticipation, he turned the door knob, pushing it open,

"Ha, ha, real funny J-…." Alec trailed off, blinking uncomprehendingly, eyes falling on a man curiously inspecting the rather ostentatious floral arrangement setting in the center of the table,

He turned at the sound of the door, spinning almost gracefully before freezing, head tilting, impossibly dark brown eyes widening slightly, slipping over Alec in amazement….

_Alec was kinda right there with him…_

Alec gulped, eyes trailing over the gorgeous man…

The man gasped, giving a soft, faintly disbelieving, worryingly appealing breathless laugh, eyes slipping back up, meeting Alec's. He reached up, tucking a few glossy midnight blue tinted black strands of hair behind his ear, idly worrying a silver dragon like earcuff. The usually harsh lights of the break room catching, shimmering on multiple rings adorning his hands and necklaces perfectly displayed by the man's nearly half open midnight blue shirt. He swallowed, giving a warm, totally amazed smile,

"H-hello Alexander…"

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Sorry! I know it's a mean place to cut off but it's the best place- I swear…

Next chapter we're gonna jump to Magnus's POV and see why he's here (And Why he disappeared)

I promise I know what I'm doing…

What do you guys think so far?

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*** 16 ***


	3. Chapter 3- Once Upon A Time

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Chapter 3:

Once Upon A Time

Chapter Complete! _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Two Days Earlier,_ _A World Away__…_

"So as you can see…this is…well…this is bad." intern Zamir trailed off, giving a slightly hopeless wave towards the shimmering images.

Magnus blinked in surprise, stepping forward, sharp cat eyes flickering over the rotating images, quirking his eyebrow,

"That is putting it mildly." he paused, tilting his head, unnerving shimmering golden eyes zeroing in on the young intern. Blake swallowed, taking a deep breath, trying not to wither under the imposing gaze, tucking a few short stands of blonde hair behind her ear, before steadying meeting his eyes head on. Magnus blinked in surprise, eyes flashing oddly, before continuing,

"I was aware there had been some issues with the vale, but this is far more extensive than I had ever imagined. What you are saying is that the vale between worlds is not just fluctuating, that it may in actuality be failing?"

Blake nodded quickly, trying to regain some of her poise, stepping a bit closer to the warlock,

"It's worse than anyone anticipated. The council's been trying to keep it under wraps, assure the public it's just a standard flux caused by solar flares and the like. Originally that is what we thought it was ourselves. But…but that only explains so much. We've been hoping it would restabilize, that it was just a natural flux, the kind we've seen occasionally in response to sudden shifts on either side or various atmospheric phenomena, a natural thing that if left alone would right itself. However from the new data we've collected that's simply not the case. The flux is not natural, it's intentional…and it seems to be getting stronger. We'd hoped to be able to find out what's going on and get it sorted without alarming the public but…

But now they're thinking we're way past that."

Magnus scoffed, gesturing towards the flickering images,

"Never thought I'd say this, but the council may be right…better late than never I suppose. What do you know so far?"

Blake huffed faintly at the barb, beginning to roll her eyes, a sharp comment clearly on the tip of her tongue before remembering who she was talking to, clearly fighting to keep her comments in check. She shook her head shrugging, beginning back on the task at hand,

"Honestly not much. We know for sure that it is not a natural phenomenon. It seems to be concentrated with the majority of fluctuations grouped around the city of Santa Barbra. There are traces of an unidentifiable Magical signature... something unlike any we have ever seen. They can't even definitively determine if the power is Warlock, Demonic, Fae or Celestial…

There are _**none**_ of the usual signatures; they have never seen anything like it. The only thing we can determine is that the unknown magic is coming from the other side."

Magnus almost startled,

"That does not make sense. Humans do not possess the capacity for magic- there has never been one account of _actual_ Magic from that side of the vale…not in the three thousand years we have been aware of the existence of the human world.

Not one."

Blake, huffed, brushing her hair back, giving a flippant wave and slightly sarcastic shrug,

"I know, I sat through history class same as you…_Well_… I sat through history; you lived a good portion of it. Be that as it may this is where we are now. The vale is being affected and manipulated by an unknown form of Magic from the non-magical side.

And it seems to be ramping up." she paused, glancing up somewhat unsure,

"It's said that you have spent time there- that you can cross over without any undue effects on your strength or abilities. Without the disorientation or any of it… Is that true?"

Magnus nodded,

She tilted his head curiously,

"Can I ask how that's possible? Not to overstep, I've just never heard of such a thing."

Magnus sighed, giving a slight shrug,

"I crossed over by accident as a child, when I was just learning spell casting. It was intriguing, so unlike our world. I had never imagined anything like it, it was utterly captivating and I just wanted to see more of it. I noticed I felt a bit ill when I got back but I was too exhilarated by the rest of it to really pay it any mind.

I continued crossing over and as such seem to have built up a tolerance to it. After a few months I noticed the jump didn't seem to affect me much physically and my powers never really seemed any different on either side. Though it may have helped that I was just beginning to really come into my magic at the time, I was learning it here and at times putting it to use there…as I was just barely beginning to learn to wield my magic it didn't occur to me it was really any more difficult there.

Add in over five centuries of this and by now I feel no different there than here."

Blake blinked, shaking her head faintly in amazement,

"Yeah…I don't think I have that kind of determination. I don't know how a child would be able to handle such a strain."

Magnus gave a soft huff of a laugh, shrugging,

"Some things are worth the effort."

She quirked his eyebrow, curiosity getting the better of her

"What could possibly be worth such a struggle?"

Magnus smiled softly,

"Not 'what', 'who'."

"What?"

Magnus quirked his eyebrow, giving a slightly playful but censoring smirk,

"That my dear _is_ rather over stepping. The council really has no place knowing of my personal life…in any capacity. I am sure a young lady such as yourself can understand that some matters are best left without political interference."

She snorted, nodding,

"Oh yeah, right there with you on that one…sorry didn't mean to pry. I kinda tend to do that."

Magnus chuckled, shaking his head,

"Then we apparently have something in common. Don't give it a second thought…besides we seem to be straying from the original topic. The issue is coming from the other side of the vale; I can travel to the other side without being affected. I take it the council wants me to travel over, find the source of the disturbance and put a stop to it,

Yes?"

Blake nodded, grateful for the subject change,

"Yes…exactly." She took a deep breath, shaking her head quickly, clearly gearing up for the hard sale _(Magnus had to bite back a chuckle, clearly she'd rehearsed this, he could practically see the gears turning.)_

"Okay, I understand your trepidations after your last experience working for the council-"

"I'll do it."

"-and I am not belittling that but before you say no…

Umm…w-wait…what?" she stumbled, blinking in surprise and confusion,

Magnus chuckled waving off the surprised look,

"Sorry for interrupting your big speech my dear, I can see you worked very hard on it, and I am sure it would have been quite convincing and rallying, but it is unnecessary. Though I can more than see where you would think it's warranted. It is no secret I have had my issues with the council. At this point I have all but swore off any missions for them-

Actually my exact words the last time I addressed them on the subject were that the next person they send to conscript me into another one of their pet projects or harebrained schemes had better have their affairs in order…which makes me curious what exactly you could have done to piss them off so…Or did they just assume sending a young-clearly inexperienced- girl with the message was the safest bet?

Not that I'd be surprised at such an underhanded ploy…" he muttered, quirking his eyebrow expectantly,

She huffed, rolling her eyes,

"Nothing as dramatic as all that. We did a drawing among all the first years…I drew the short straw. Well _actually_ my friend Kasey drew the short straw…but then he fainted, so I volunteered to go instead."

Magnus gave a surprised laugh, quirking his eyebrow,

"He fainted? That's a bit extreme…"

She shrugged, rolling her eyes affectionately,

"Eh honestly he's a bit of an over excitable drama queen sometimes…though with your rep it wasn't exactly the case here…umm…I mean."

Magnus waved her off,

"You're fine dear…though I'd hope the interns would know they are not the ones I take issue with? Maybe pass that along if you'd be so kind. In any case this isn't about the council, their political interests or over- reaching schemes. This is about the safety of the entirety of the Magic realm and likely the human world as well. I may not be fond of the council but I will not leave two realms in jeopardy just to inconvenience a group of over-reaching politicians…

I'll go figure out what's going on and put a stop it simple as that."

Blake slumped faintly in relief, nodding,

"Thank you…really…and you should know they said anything you need so far as backup or support or the like the council w-"

Magnus shook his head,

"No they won't."

Blake blinked, tilting her head in confusion,

"But…okay, I know you're impressive and super powerful and all that but surely you're not planning on handling all of this on your own? I mean, once again I know you're kinda a badass but that's far too much for one person to handle…even if that one person happens to be the most powerful warlock in all the Magical realm."

Magnus chuckled, gave a slight shrug,

"Well first off thank you for the 'badass' comment…always nice to hear. Next, you are quite right. It would be a lot to handle on my own. I will need help, probably here and there as well. However none of that will be the council. I do not trust them, but I have plenty I do, they will help me. The council will not…in fact this?" he said, gesturing between them,

"Our interaction is the extent of their contribution to my efforts. Anything else they have to forward to me so far as this goes has to come through you. I will not deal with anyone else."

Blake sputtered, eyes wide, flailing slightly,

"_What!? I-I can't tell them that! _I'm just an intern…and not even one of the ones they particularly like. I'm kinda nosey, opinionated and tend to speak before I think…like _way_ before I think. I don't even have a parking spot; I ride to work on a freaking skateboard!

They're not gonna trust me with government secrets, espionage and a tactical mission in another world. It took them over a month to trust me with the freaking coffee order! And still usually I'm the last resort…

A-and…

Crap…I'm starting to think the whole straw thing might've been rigged…"

Magnus chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

"With them? It's an almost certainty…but I really think it's for the best. I like you; you're quirky, snarky and straightforward. I'll take that over an apple polishing, uptight toady any day. Odds are if the council really likes and trusts you, I won't.

As I said…they have something to pass on, it goes through you or it does not come to me at all. I'll have my own backup- unconnected and with any luck totally unknown to them- less chance of leaks, undue drama or political manipulation. I will pass on updates as they come and you can relay them to the council…fair enough?"

She huffed,

"No! Not 'fair enough'…I don't want to be put in the middle of this."

Magnus shrugged,

"Well, hate to tell you this sweetie but you've been in the middle of this since you walked through my door. I know it's quite frustrating but if it's any conciliation they are used to my eccentric demands, they'll know you had no say in this…

Also trying to wrangle what they want to pass on into something they're comfortable sending via teenage girl message will likely be far more frustrating for them than you."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes, sarcastically,

"Oh great, so my bosses will be pissed and I'll be the reason why…that's awesome."

Magnus grinned,

"I know you're being sarcastic but it really kinda is. They can't take it out on you- they were the ones who put you in the middle in the first place. The fact that their obnoxious ploy backfired and you're now staying in the middle is totally their own doing.

You can't tell me you don't find that at least a little amusing?"

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head faintly but couldn't help a slight smirk,

"Okay…gotta admit I am a sucker for irony and karma..."

Magnus tilted his head expectantly,

Blake huffed, shrugging,

"Fine…I'm in…but this better not blow up in my face."

Magnus chuckled,

"It won't…and it won't interfere with the mission. Actually it'll probably go far smoother if I don't have to deal with the political idiocy. Let me see your phone…"

She blinked, reaching in her pocket, pulling it out, holding it up. He reached forward plucking it out of her hand, fingers flying over the keys,

"Hey! Be careful with that…and it's supposed to be locked!"

He shrugged unconcerned,

"Warlock…and don't worry I'm not snooping just putting my number in for when you need to contact me."

"I could have done that…" she grumbled,

He finished holding it out to her, quirking his eyebrow,

"True…but could you have also spelled it so anyone who tries to listen in on a conversation on it just hears a garbled mess? Or made it indestructible?"

She blinked, looking it over in surprise

"Umm…no…I can spell the ringtones to match the annoyance level of the caller so I can prepare, but that's the extent of it for me."

Magnus chuckled, shrugging,

"Well…that is handy too. If for whatever reason you actually want someone to be able to hear the conversation just hit the speaker button twice…otherwise the conversation will be masked."

She shook her head, giving a bit of an impressed nod,

"Alright…maybe there will be an upside to this."

Magnus winked,

"When I'm involved there usually is." He paused, sobering a bit,

"I know this seems rather daunting and I do apologize for you being caught up in the middle but honestly this is going to be a big undertaking, it will require much of my focus. If I am constantly having to deal with Chancellor Ramsey, his sniveling, smarmy son, or any of the rest of them I'm just gonna wonder what angle they're working. With you I know that's not the case, you're just doing your job- much to your annoyance I might add…

That I can trust."

She gave a slightly disbelieving laugh, shaking her head, making one last attempt,

"Well okay…. But you know if everything you hear on the case only goes through me you're probably not gonna get all the info they have. I'm sure there's plenty they wouldn't trust with any intern; much less one they apparently dislike enough to send to conscript an admittedly rightly distrusting warlock into helping on yet another mission when he'd specifically told them no more. "

Magnus gave a dismissive shrug,

"That's irrelevant. I never get all the info until after the fact anyways…at least this way I can cut down on the annoyance of the 'well, X was strictly need to know'. They can play the 'we couldn't tell X to an intern' card and I don't have to sit through that simpering, condescending moron Dax blowing smoke trying desperately to stumble into an excuse to cover their asses…win, win."

Blake sighed, rubbing at her face, slumping faintly against the wall, clearly giving up on the professional manner of the meeting, and any chance at staying out of it,

"Alright, just so we're on the same page; a government organization and the most powerful warlock in the magical realm are devolving to the age old stubborn teenage theatrics of not speaking to each other and I'm the 'lucky' go between caught in the middle…

Right?"

Magnus gave a surprised laugh, mimicking her pose,

"Pretty much, yes."

She shook her head once more rolling her eyes, blowing a few errant strands of hair out of her eyes, shrugging,

"Kay, whatever…clearly there's no getting out of this, may as well get started. What exactly am I telling them?

I want to at least be sure my bosses are yelling about the right thing."

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

"Magnus, I'm surprised at you…poor girl."

Magnus shrugged, glancing over at Clary,

"I know, I know, it really wasn't fair to the dear but if I have to once again work for the Council I couldn't very well just pass up the chance to turn one of their obnoxious little manipulation games against them. Besides Blake didn't seem upset or afraid, just slightly irritated…I really think once we get underway she'll find it quite amusing- her bosses having to actually run all their information through an intern.

And once again- they did start it…I merely finished it."

Clary snorted, slipping closer, looking over the various supplies Magnus was gathering from the shelves for the trip, checking to see if there was anything else she could think to add.

"Well if anything she can always take heart in the fact she's working with someone with the same level of maturity as a teenager, so at least she won't be out of her element on that."

He scoffed, dramatically rolling not only his eyes but his entire head, giving her a sarcastic look,

She quirked her eyebrow, flashing a slightly impish smirk, tilting her head,

"Are you actually trying to prove my point? Cause teen wise that was spot on. All you need is to stomp your foot for empathizes or grumble about how you are 'So' out of here the second you turn eighteen."

Magnus gave a surprised laugh,

"A few centuries off on that one sweetheart."

She shrugged,

"Couldn't tell just from talking to you- hey are you sure you have enough of the Dragon's Breath? Thought you used most of it on that thing with the Gremlins last month?"

Magnus shook his head, waving her off,

"No, I'm good…restocked last week. Oh! But I do need a new mortar and pestle. Most of the ones I have are too large and cumbersome to take and the smaller one I had to use a while back to mix some Carrow extract with hemlock and viperfish venom and it kind of dissolved a good portion of it. Haven't got around to replacing it yet."

She nodded, moving across the room to the shelves of them, perusing the shelves, looking for the best fit. She reached over selecting three sets; a small shimmering black onyx set, a set made of a swirling mix of jade and amethyst and a rich, near blood red set made of rosewood and mahogany.

"Here, these are some of my favorites, and all of them are treated, all but indestructible. You may as well take all of them, you really can't have too many and the different elements work best for different ingredients. It's really best to take all of them, not as if you can just pop out to a shop in the human world if you forget something." she trailed off, brushing her hair behind her ear, glancing away,

Magnus gave a gentle smile, shaking his head, stepping closer.

"Sweetheart, I'll be fine, I know what I'm doing and I've been there countless times."

She shook her head faintly,

"Yes but it's been decades…nearly a century. I know you've been keeping up with the developments there and all of that but Mags? Observing another world and actually traveling there- living there for who knows how long? That is totally different. You shouldn't be going alone…

Maybe I cou-" he cut her off, shaking his head, reaching over catching her arm, squeezing gently,

"No biscuit, you can't, it's too big of a risk."

She huffed, giving a challenging look, green eyes sparking with electric flames,

"Mags? I realize as you have known me since I was eleven it's kind of hard for you to see me as an adult but I am not a child- haven't been for about three centuries now. Hell, at this point I'm just as powerful as you…even more so in some aspects. I am one of the most powerful demons in the entirety of the Magic realm. I know what I'm doing, know my abilities."

He chuckled, shaking his head,

"Clarissa I am well aware of that. You are brilliant darling; one of the most skilled Magics I have ever encountered. I am not in any way shape or form saying you are incapable of it…I am merely saying I don't think it's a good idea.

Crossing the vale effects all magics differently. I've been doing it since I was a child, I am well acclimated to it. On the other hand you never have, in fact I've never heard of any demon crossing over. We have no way of knowing how it would affect you- or your powers. It could hardly affect them, boost them or even totally bind them, tethering you to that world, making it impossible for you to cross back over. There is no way to tell what it would do to you and I am not willing to risk that just so I have a bit of extra back up there."

He sighed, slipping his arm around her shoulders, lightly pressing a quick kiss to her cheek,

"Darling, I know you are worried, situation reversed I would be too…but right now it is simply not worth the risk. I am sure I will be able to handle everything just fine on my own, and just because you are not there in person it doesn't mean you cannot help. We'll use the Reflections spell; I'll be able to talk to you pretty much round the clock. I will keep you updated on every aspect of the case." He shrugged, giving a slight smile,

"Who knows it may actually be more helpful having someone for support here, you can keep me in the loop. I'll be sure Blake has your information in case she needs to relay a message, and if I run into any issues with the council or it seems they're not giving enough information to Blake you are more than capable of settling them and getting anything I need from them.

Really it's far better."

She snickered, quirking her eyebrow,

"So what? You expect me to occupy myself with tormenting the council?"

He smirked, quirking his eyebrow right back,

"Problem?"

She snorted, flickering her hand, a brilliant green flame sparking to life, dancing and swirling, the sparking electric green flame mirrored in her eyes, glancing over giving a playful wink,

"Nope…"

He gave a delighted laugh, squeezing her shoulder, pressing another quick kiss to her cheek,

"That's my girl!"

She chuckled rolling her eyes, nudging his shoulder, before sobering slightly, glancing back at him, a flicker of uncertainty in her brilliant green eyes,

"Mags, this is all well and good, and I get it, I really do. I understand the logic behind it but I really do not like the idea of you being there totally alone. You are going to need help on that side.

Real, physical help, not just someone using a mirror to talk you through things."

He shrugged, giving a slight nod, taking a deep breath,

"I agree…but I think I have that figured out…"

She tilted her head curiously,

"How do you mean?"

He flattered, reaching up, fiddling with his dragon earcuff,

"W-well…I had thought of that. I need someone to help me there, watch my back and help me with fitting in and finding my way around the city. Someone familiar with that world. In addition to that this is basically an investigation- it would be good to have someone with experience working on cases and investigations, someone street smart and well versed in the in's and out's of that kind of thing…" He trailed off,

She quirked her eyebrow expectantly,

"Yes…so…?"

"So…I…I kind of maybe looked up Alexander a couple years ago-"

Clary gasped,

"Magnus! What w-"

"I know, I know! It was stupid; I needed to just put all that behind me for both of our sakes. He thought I was imaginary, hasn't seen me since we were nine years old and between time traveling crystals and interdimensional travel it was just far too complicated to explain. It was over two decades ago for him and five centuries for me, but I just couldn't help it. I never went to see him…I just wanted to know that he was okay, that he had a good life…that's all…" he slumped against the counter, glancing up, giving a kind of sheepish shrug, and faintly wistful sigh,

She shook her head, settling next to him, giving a gentle smile,

"So…I take it he's doing okay?"

Magnus smiled, nodding eyes flickering bright,

"Yes, quite…"

She nodded, squeezing his arm,

"That's good, I'm really happy to hear that. I know how much he meant to you, and how much it hurt after you lost the ability to go see him. He sounded like a wonderful person, he deserves to be happy."

Magnus sighed, nodding,

"He really does."

She nodded slowly, glancing over,

"Mags? I don't mean to be rude but I don't really know what this has to do with the current situation…I know Alec was your friend, your first crush and all that, and I can totally understand you wanting to see him again. But what he saw an imaginary friend just randomly showing up twenty seven years later seems like quite a lot to just randomly ambush a guy with.

I mean I get that you need help there but do you really think just surprising a random guy out of the blue is the right move so far as backup is concerned?"

Magnus held up a finger, tilting his head,

"Ah but he isn't just some random guy…He actually went into law enforcement. He's the head detective of the SBPD…so see he would be the perfect back up. He'd know the world, know how to run an investigation, it would be ideal."

Clary blinked in surprise,

"Okay…yes, on paper that makes total sense. But in real life that boils down to a rational, logical seasoned head detective being randomly ambushed by someone he's thought for the last near thirty years was imaginary and conscripted into helping find AND if necessary take out an unknown magical entity tampering with the vale between our worlds…

Do you not see how this might be a bit much?"

Magnus sighed, tilting his head in acknowledgement,

"I do…but I don't see too many other options. I cannot take someone from this side as few if any have enough experience with the crossing to remain unaffected, and I don't really have the time to help them get their sea legs as it were as the issues with the vale seem to be ramping up and time really is of the essence. He is the only person on that side that I know, that has ever even seen me…and you are right, I have not been across the vale in nearly a century- well except what I know from twenty seven years ago…but that was when I was eight and with the aid of a magical amser crystal, and my knowledge of the world consisted of video games and running around with Alexander and Izzy. I know very little of the human world now- I know the basics but that's it. I don't know social customs or any of those random aspects that allow you to pass unnoticed in modern human society. I will need help with that, and Alexander is the only option I can think of for that. I realize it will be quite a shock for him but I do believe it is a necessity."

Clary smirked,

"Right…necessity…"

He rolled his eyes, waving her off,

"Oh really now! I am totally focused on the task at hand; this is just the most logical way to handle it."

She quirked her eyebrow,

"Who are you trying to convince, me or you?"

He shrugged, giving a faintly sheepish look,

"Both?"

She snorted, shaking her head, clasping his shoulder,

"Well…the important thing is YOU acknowledge it…that being said, I kind of agree with you."

Magnus blinked in surprise,

"You do?"

She smiled, nodding,

"Yes, though I don't necessarily buy your 'only option' logic, but it does make sense. He would know the world, and being a detective he'd be well versed in investigations which would definitely be beneficial. In addition to that You absolutely need help from that side and at least going to him- while it may be a shock- once the initial surprise wears off he's much more apt to believe you than someone you just randomly conscript into helping.

He may right now think warlocks, Magic and other worlds are just products of his imagination from when he was a child but he does know of them…

I really do think it is the best option…" She paused glancing over,

"Plus I may just be a bit of a hopeless romantic but I kinda love the idea of childhood sweethearts meeting back up to save the world."

Magnus laughed, blushing faintly, shaking his head,

"I-I wouldn't say 'sweethearts'…we were just friends…we were far too young for anything like that."

She gave an impish smirk, quirking her eyebrow,

"Well…that's definitely not the case now…he's an adult…and your…well…you're not too young for anything…like literally ANYTHING…

There are entire countries younger than you."

He gasped, nudging her playfully,

"You are so obnoxious sometimes…" he grumbled,

She shrugged, grinning, eyes flickering bright

"Yeah…can't imagine where I picked _**that**_ up."

"Oh I am not taking the blame for that."

She grinned,

"Yeah you are…"

He shrugged, tilting his head in agreement,

"Yeah, I am…You've learned well."

"Eh, had a hell of a teacher." She bounded up, reaching over, catching his hand, tugging him back towards the rows of shelves of the shop,

"No come on, we have to finish getting your supplies everything you could possibly need; Axcelerry crystals, hemlock, bellows blade, dragon's blood, condoms-"

Magnus glared, blushing,

"I hate you."

She snorted,

"No you don't…now how are you set up for caldrons? I have this great one that…"

Magnus sighed, rolling his eyes, falling into step behind her,

_He really did adore Clarissa but sometimes he wished she didn't take after him quite so much…_

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I already like Blake…she's gonna be another OC, she'll be popping up in the other verses as well.

I love Demon Clary- thought that was a fun character twist.

Anyways what do you all think so far?

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*** 23 ***


	4. Chapter 4- Journey To A Whole New World

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Chapter 4:

Journey To A Whole New World

Magnus does the spell to travel between worlds…

Chapter Complete!

_Just a little heads up- for Simon's parents I'm pretty much going with the OC's I came up with for the SEM Verse- they'll probably be a constant throughout the verses- sorry Simon._

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_Hmm…is that everything?_

It should be everything…he very nearly bought out half Clary's stock, and that's on top of everything else he already had. At this point the shelves of the Annex of his lair are packed so full you couldn't fit one more potion bottle, crystal or spell book. This has to be everything…

Unless he's taking his entire lair this has to be everything.

The next step would be just piling random crap on the floor and really the place has enough of a 'hoarder' vibe as it is, definitely don't need to add to that aesthetic.

He sighed, glancing around once more, hoping he had everything. It really was a one shot kinda thing. He'd spent nearly half the day trying to pare down, get his supplies to just a cabinet or two, easy enough to spell and drag through the portal. However after so long he just had to give that up as a lost cause. At this point he had no clue what or who was causing the issues with the vale- there was no way to whittle down what to take when he was basically going in blind.

If he had any hope of getting this handled he had to have access to near anything he could possibly need. In addition to that he'd need a place to stay and work…he can't very well just rent a motel room to work out of. Spells can be rather loud and eye catching…might draw a bit too much attention.

No…that would most definitely not work,

He needed a space of his own, out, away from the masses, probably fairly well cloaked. Something that wouldn't draw attention and would afford him the privacy he needed.

There really was only one option; just take the whole damn annex with him. It was possible, though the spell was quite intricate and took a near terrifying amount of power. He's one of the only beings in the Magical realm powerful enough to perform such a spell- even the council doesn't know he can do this (Though he's made a point to keep their knowledge of him spotty at best, tossing in rumors and disinformation partly to screw with them but also as a bit of insurance. Always good to have a few aces up your sleeve after all.)

In truth doing the spell would diminish his abilities quite a bit for at least a week or so- it wouldn't out and out drain them, but he'd certainly feel the effects and be far weaker than he has been in centuries. He'd still be far from helpless but nowhere near full strength- and in a new, unfamiliar world searching for an unknown threat to both worlds that made him rather uneasy. That's why the Wandering Quarters spell wasn't his first choice. If he does the spell there's no way he'd be able to cross back over for nearly a month. That's a big gamble, but it really was the best option. The only real option, if he has a chance at this.

He sighed, taking one more look around before nodding faintly, going about the shelves, gathering the myriad of ingredients and items necessary for the spell.

Just barely managing to juggle them all onto the table in the center of the room before turning back, grabbing the large blood onyx caldron Clary had selected for him.

He sat it in the very center of the table, quickly arranging the ingredients in the correct order, placing them just so- everything with this had to be absolutely precise.

He glanced around once more just to check, nodding faintly.

_Okay, all set…_

_Here goes nothing._

Closing his eyes, taking a deep centering breath, he readies himself for the spell. One more deep breath, he feels his power swelling up, the oh so familiar flickering flames dancing from his fingertips up his arms and shoulders, snapping and flashing. He sighs, swallowing, mouth beginning to move in the soft, lyrical words of the beginning spell. His eyes pop open, the brilliant golden cat eyes taking on an inhuman glow, flicking his hand forward, a brilliant violet flame roaring to life, shooting up clear to the ceiling around the caldron, crackling and sparking before calming, settling to a flickering low black violet flame. He begins on the ingredients, movements practiced and fluid, almost as if in a trance, every ounce of his focus entirely on the caldron, never taking his eyes off it.

The first step was the easiest, the powdered ingredients, he'd used his new mortar and pestle's to crush and mix them properly, everything had to be done a specific way. Reaching over he picked up the onyx mortar holding the powered Phoenix feather and blood quartz pouring it in counter clockwise. Next was the rosewood mortar, sprinkling the shadow cat claw and dragon's scales mixture over the top of the first. Lastly he grabbed the amethyst and jade mortar, pouring the devil's wood and Fire scorpion venom powder in a perfect circle clockwise around the edge of the caldron.

He took a deep centering breath,

_Okay…easy part done…now onto the clincher._

He reached across himself to one of the five shimmering bottles situated around the caldron at what would be the tips of a five pointed star. The first one is a deep, near black blue-violet, it shimmers and flickers like starlight. He picks it up, pouring it in slow, practiced spirals. Setting it back, he reaches for the glimmering gold bottle at the top of the table; it's almost hot to the touch glowing like bottled sunbeams. The movements with adding this one are quicker, seemingly nearly chaotic, but just as practiced.

He sits it back reaching for the bottle directly opposite the first one; this a shining yellow-green, it sparkles and shimmers as it catches in the light and smells like lemon grass, fresh air and summer. The movements of this are elegant and swirling, twisting around themselves like vines. He sets the bottle back carefully following the same path back before moving across the caldron, up to the left hand corner, picking up the eerily glowing blue green bottle. It swirled and churned the scent of sea salt and ocean depths wafting from it near overpowering. He holds his free hand open over top of the caldron palm up, pouring the odd, blue green liquid over his hand, it slipping through his fingers. It hits the mixture with a splash, the sound of crashing waves echoing throughout the building.

Magnus replaced the bottle, hand moving in a straight line back across the caldron to the last bottle, this one a deep, boiling, blood red. It hissed, sparked and snapped. Magnus lifted it, holding the bottle directly above the center of the caldron. He reached forward again with his free hand, the spark of magic glittering violet, dragging his finger along the bottom of the bottle, the glass shimmering before dematerializing, the entire contents of the bottle falling in a perfect straight line, dead center of the rolling simmering brew. Magnus followed the path back, replacing the now empty bottle in the exact location as before. He drew his hand down in a straight, sharp line back to the first bottle, completing the circuit.

The contents of the caldron seemed to roar to life, bubbling, churning, snapping and popping, rolling together, a brilliant, glimmering multicolored smoke billowing out filling the room. Magnus leaned forward into the smoke, right over the center of the caldron, golden yellow cat eyes glowing even brighter than the flames. He took in a deep breath, holding it, eyes slipping closed. He mentally said the last few lines of the spell, feeling the magic churning, rolling, mingling with his own inborn powers.

At the last line his eyes popped back open, he let out his breath, a shimmering, brilliant violet smoke mingling with the rest. The caldron glowed, the bubbling liquid a brilliant white light, almost too bright to look at. The light radiated out shimmering, crackling and swirling, shot through with searingly bright multicolored lightning, overtaking everything, the entire building bathed in the blinding light.

Magnus felt the building begin to tremble, shelves and bottles rattling. Felt the sudden lurch and startling, dizzying spin, followed by a sudden, abrupt drop, The entire annex instantly cloaked in a deep, total darkness.

He swallowed, taking a few deep breaths, groaning faintly.

_Damn…that was a hell of a lot more intense than he thought it'd be…_

Ugh…he felt like he'd just ran a mile at a dead sprint. His legs felt like jelly and he was shaky and out of breath.

_Wow…yeah he's never doing that again._

He closed his eyes, taking a few deep centering breaths, trying to get back to normal. Oh…he SO did not like this. He could feel the change in his power already, it was still there but it felt muted and muffled, almost like when your ears need to pop…only it wasn't his hearing effected, it was his powers.

_And he's gonna have a week of this?_

_**Hopefully**__ just a week…_

_Damnit…when he finds out who's behind this they aren't gonna know what hit them._

He groaned again, rubbing at his face, reaching up snapping his fingers getting a bit of light back. He rolled his neck, popping faintly, stretching his arms, trying to work out the odd stiffness- an annoying side effect of the spell. Man, useful or not he really did NOT like this spell.

But at least it worked; he knew it did. He could feel the change in the air, the total absence of Magic in the world. It was always an odd feeling- one of the things that threw so many during the transition between worlds.

He sighed, rubbing at his face once more, moving over to the lounge on the far side of the annex, dropping unceremoniously onto a plush violet couch.

Well…it was unpleasant and draining but at least it worked. He's in the human world- maybe not at full strength but still quite formidable, he has all the supplies he could possibly need as well as a place to work and live…all in all not so bad.

At least there were no complications.

"Urghhh…"

_Uh…that…was not him…_

_What the hell?_

Magnus startles faintly, setting up, blinking his eyes open, looking around in confusion. From over by the rows of shelving a bit of a shuffling sound. A young man stumbles out, grasping at the shelves for support, rubbing his free hand up through his hair, swallowing, looking over at Magnus, blinking wide golden brown eyes in confusion,

"Dude…w-what just happened?"

_Umm…_

_Oookay…so much for no complications…_

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

"Ughh…" The young man groaned again, eyes widening before slamming closed, leaning heavily against the shelves, swaying faintly, legs beginning to buckle, the effects of the transition hitting him.

Magnus darted up, hurrying over, catching him, shifting the younger man to where he was leaning against Magnus's shoulder. The guy whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut tighter, arm slipping automatically around Magnus for support, squeezing tightly.

_Damn…poor kid…_

The transition between worlds hits full force like a mixture of a hangover and a migraine- and that's just the normal transition. He really didn't know what the effects would be on an unintended guest during the Wandering Quarters spell- anyone traveling in it was supposed to be at the center of the spell, the safest, most stable point.

The kids lucky he didn't end up getting killed by the lightning or wild, errant magic.

_Not that he's really gonna be feeling 'lucky' at the moment,_

Magnus speed up, moving them as quickly as possible back over to the couch, settling him. He hissed, hands going to his face, making a small pitiful sound, looking rather green and quite shaky. Magnus settled close to his side, reaching over rubbing slow, soothing circles onto his back,

"Shh…I know, I know, it feels like hell…it'll pass, I promise. Just focus on your breathing, it's okay…you'll be alright, just breathe- slow, deep breaths. Okay?"

The guy swallowed, nodding faintly, the movement bringing about another hiss and whimper,

"_Oww…"_

"Shh…I know…it's okay, just breath, here," Magnus paused, reaching over with his free hand, catching one of the guys hands, lifting it to his chest,

"Try to match my breathing…in…out…in…out."

The man took a shuttering breath, eyes still squeezed tightly closed. He swallowed, trying to copy Magnus's breathing. It started shaky, stilted and thready, but little by little it steadied, evening out, syncing up with Magnus's.

Magnus nodded faintly, squeezing his hand gently before removing it from Magnus's chest settling it on the couch,

"Okay, very good…you're doing wonderfully dear, you're almost through the worst of it…I'm gonna do a spell to help with the other symptoms, to take away the pain and queasiness, okay?"

He begins to nod but seemingly reconsidered, taking a deep breath,

"Y-yeah…"

Magnus gave a gentle smile, squeezing his hand tightly closed, lifting it to his lips, softly whispering the spell. He opened his hand, a shimmering, white violet flame flickering to life, dancing about his fingers. He gently lifted his hand to the young man's forehead, the sparkling violet flame flickering. Where the flame touched his forehead it shimmered brighter, the color changing, shifting from a light near lavender to brilliant near neon violet slowing darkening to a near black as it drew out the pain.

Magnus could feel the young man relaxing a bit, the tension in his shoulders easing. Magnus moved his hand slowly away from his forehead. The young man blinked his eyes open, lids fluttering rapidly, focusing on the odd black flame dancing about Magnus's fingers. His eyes widened all the more, a bright, amazed spark flickering in his golden brown eyes overtaking the shadow of pain and sickness that was there, mouth somewhat slack, falling open a bit. He blinked once more, eyes shifting from the flame up to Magnus's face, a giddy, excited light in his eyes,

"Wow…what is that?"

Magnus smiled, shrugging, holding his hand up, the flame dancing about his fingers. He lifted it close to his face, blowing, the flame extinguishing, glancing back up meeting the young man's eyes.

"That was your pain."

His eyes seemed to brighten even more; he gave a slightly giddy near giggle, bouncing eagerly,

"Oh wow…" he seemed to startle, eyes somehow widening even more, a bit of recognition flashing, he gasped looking Magnus over in amazement,

"Oh wow…i-it's you!"

That surprised a laugh out of Magnus, he chuckled,

"Yup…it's me- the one and only."

The guy gave an excited almost squeak, bouncing excitedly, with yet another near giggle,

"Oh my god…it's like really you! You're Magnus Bane…I'm actually talking with _Magnus freaking Bane! This is SO cool!"_

Magnus laughed, quirking his eyebrow,

"Yes, once again it's me...Magnus Bane, the one and only. And who am I talking to? And more to the point why exactly where you in my Annex? Are you a fanboy…a reporter…a stalker…a thief? I really am quite curious."

He flailed slightly, shaking his head quickly, cheeks flushing bright,

"Oh no! No, no, no…nothing like that…w-well…okay kinda the first one but definitely not the last two. Despite what it looks like I'm not a stalker and I'm not a complete idiot with a death wish so no way in hell I'd ever do something as stupid as try to steal anything from you. I mean I wouldn't steal anything anyway, just like in general, that's really messed up but I'd especially never steal something from you- that's like skinny dipping in viperfish lagoon level stupid. And anyw-"

Magnus cut him off with a laugh, reaching forward resting his hand on his,

"Sweetheart, again _breathe_. I get it; you're not a thief, we're good…at least I think so. Do you always chatter on like this or did something get rattled in the transition?"

He blushed faintly, giving a kind of sheepish shrug,

"I wish I could blame it on that but no, this is just how I am…I never know when to shut up…sorry…"

Magnus shook his head, patting his hand, chuckling faintly,

"No apologies necessary darling, just wanted to be sure. The spell I used is rather dangerous and during transitions anyone present is supposed to be in the center of the spell, it's the safest place."

He nodded enthusiastically,

"Yeah, dude! That was like the coolest thing I've ever seen- TOTALLY worth the pain and nausea and all the other weirdness I'm still feeling. I've never seen anything like that, it was incredible."

Magnus tilted his head,

"On that subject- if you were not robbing or stalking me how exactly did you happen to find yourself in my Annex?"

He faltered, fidgeting a bit,

"Well…" he trailed off,

Magnus tilted his head curiously,

"Yes?"

He sighed, glancing back up at Magnus, shrugging,

"I-honestly I don't think you'll believe me…"

Magnus quirked his eyebrow,

"Well, only one way to find out, isn't there?"

He gave a slight huff of a laugh,

"True enough…kay, here goes nothing…

Hi, I'm Simon Lewis- yes council members Hilda and Garrett's son, please don't kill me till I say everything. I swear I'm not working for them or spying for them or whatever else I'm sure you think, and you have every right to think that. I know you trust them about as far as you can throw them and honestly even that's probably a fair bit too much.

They're shady as hell- and that's coming from ME.

I did break in here- sorry- really but I really needed to talk to you and I didn't want word to get back to my parents that I was here. I'm twenty four, well out of the house and we're really not close- like at all- but still if they heard I was here there'd be drama. I heard from some of the interns that there were issues with the vale and that they were all freaking cause one of them had to come drag you onto the mission even though you'd already told the council flat out that you wouldn't be working for them anymore and they were gonna be telling you that you had to go across the vale and it clicked that the last time I went to their office to meet them for lunch –

a standing obligation every month so we seem like a happy, well adjusted family to help solidify their positive image in return for them leaving me out of their drama and social scheming the rest of the time- I'd overheard them talking about how important it was to get 'him' across the vale and it just seemed like way too big of a coincidence and I know you probably think this is some evil scheme and I get it and I don't have any way to prove it isn't and I know you're probably pissed-

especially with the whole me breaking into your Annex thing, but I think you going to the human world is a part of some plan of theirs and couldn't just do nothing and hope for the best. I don't know what they're working but I doubt it's anything good." He looked up at Magnus nervously, big golden eyes near pleading, shaking his head, continuing,

"I-I know how insane this sounds but I swear it's the truth. I popped the lock and slipped in to talk to you but you were like _really_ focused on your spell and I didn't want to interrupt or mess it up, I know how much focus they take and I didn't was to cause any problems. I figured I'd just wait till you were done and then get your attention but…well…then you did the spell and it was…

_**Dude!**_ I don't even know how to describe it.

I've never even heard of anything like that! With the crashing wave sounds and the rainbow lightning and the spinning!

Wow…just wow…

S-so I really am sorry for, like breaking and entering and quasi-spying on you but I really did have the best of intentions. I just really thought you should know before you did anything cause I think you going to the human world is kinda playing right into their plan and I just…I just thought you should know beforehand." He trailed off, slumping faintly, gaze focused on the floor, suddenly seeming far less animated than he had this entire time,

_Well…damnit…how does one even begin to respond to something like that?_

Magnus tilted his head,

"How did you manage to say all of that without stopping even once for breath?"

Simon snorted, giving a surprised laugh, glancing back up, shrugging,

"Over two decades of practice."

Magnus chuckled, shaking his head faintly,

"Well in any case I do believe you and given the circumstances you are more than forgiven for the whole breaking and entering thing. I do appreciate the heads up- though in truth anytime I work with or for the council I kind of go in figuring they're trying to screw me over in some way- hence why I said I wouldn't be working with them anymore.

Whatever the case may be I'm afraid it's rather a moot point. There is an issue with the vale, all evidence shows the issue coming from the human side, regardless of if it plays into someone's scheme or not I cannot solve the problem without being on the human side of the vale…But thank you- I will keep an eye out- and it does take quite a bit to get one over on me. I've been doing this for longer than any of them and I have more than a few tricks up my sleeve- they're not the only ones who can scheme after all."

Simon laughed, seemingly relaxing a bit, nodding,

"Good, they deserve it. And honestly after seeing that spell I kinda feel foolish being so worried- clearly you can handle anything they could throw at you and them some…" He paused, tilting his head,

"Oh umm…by the way, any idea how long the other side-effects of it will last? I mean don't get me wrong I am SO glad you stopped the pain and nausea and all that but there's this weird unsettling…like, I don't know…empty, or isolated kinda feeling-like something's missing…I really don't know how to describe it but it's really weird."

Magnus swallowed, biting his lip faintly,

"Unfortunately there's not much I can do about that. The spell you witnessed was for me to travel to the human world- it worked. That odd, empty, isolated feeling? That is the total lack of Magic. We are in the human world…there is no inherent magic here- it is quite a disconcerting feeling, takes a while to get used to I'm afraid."

Simon blinked uncomprehendingly, faintly shaking his head, looking around in confusion, again shaking his head,

"W-what? Wait…no…that can't be right. There's no way that's right…We're in your Annex."

Magnus nodded,

"Yes…we are…but we are now in my Annex in the human world."

Again with the blinking,

"Umm…b-but…no…w-we didn't move. You need a portal to travel to the human world, I didn't fall through a portal- I couldn't have! Portals are like giant glowing, swirling lighted holes in the fabric of existence. I know I'm clumsy and can be a bit unobservant at times but I'd sure as hell of seen that…

And again we're IN your Annex. We haven't moved."

Magnus sighed, shrugging,

"_**We**_ didn't move; the building did. Portals are one way but there are a few- quite powerful- _annoyingly_ draining- spells that can move not only a person and a few items but large objects, even buildings. I have no clue what is causing the issues with the vale therefore I had no way of paring down what I needed to take. I have to be ready for everything, therefore I decided the most logical thing to do was simply to bring the entire Annex with me. That was the spell you saw."

Simon froze, eyes wide, mouth slightly open,

Magnus leaned forward, waving his hand in front of his face in concern,

"Simon? Sweetheart? Are you okay? I'm sorry for the mix up dear but I had no way of knowing you were here. I know it's r-"

"Dude! You are so FREAKING Awesome! Oh my god, that is the coolest thing ever! H-how, how is that eve-I me-that's j-th-

DUDE!" he giggled brightly, bouncing excitedly, eyes bright and sparkling, looking around in amazement, before finally settling back on Magnus in total awe, shaking his head,

"S-so like we are in a totally different world? _The human world? _For real? Like for real, real?"

Magnus chuckled, nodding,

"Yes dear…" he sobered faintly, giving the younger man an apologetic look,

"And I am sorry to say that will likely be the case for quite a while. The Wandering Quarter's spell is quite powerful and unexpectedly draining. I am afraid I will not be able to open a portal back to home for at least a couple weeks, possibly longer. I thought it'd be at least a month before I could do the spell again but it was quite a bit more intense than I anticipated- in all likelihood that won't be possible for closer to two months.

I am sorry darling but it would seem you are stuck with me for probably at least a month. Perhaps while you are here you can assist me- I could really use an assistant on this. I have plans to procure some backup here but it would be good to have a bit of Magical backup here as well…

That is of course if you don't mind,

I understand if it's asking too much or if you need time to consider-"

Simon laughed, shaking his head quickly,

"No! I mean yes! I mean of course I'll help you, are you kidding me? I get a chance to help THE Magnus freaking Bane save the world-like _**two**_ worlds! I get to be magical backup for like the coolest, most kick ass, most powerful warlock ever! I am SO in, whatever you need- I mean I'm not the best, like I said I'm kinda clumsy and flail-y and I talk WAY too much and am way too enthusiastic and like a whole lot of other things that are probably gonna get on your nerves cause wow a month is a long time but I swear it won't be that bad…And I really am pretty good with spells- I mean nowhere near your level of course but I was always one of the top people in my classes- even with the flailing and chatter…

You will not regret this,

Oh my god this is SO awesome!" He finished excitedly, darting forward, hugging Magnus tightly before realizing what he was doing, pulling back, blushing brightly,

Oh! Umm, sorry that totally wasn't on purpose- I kinda get carried away a lot as, well…as you can see…

I swear I'll calm down at some point."

Magnus snickered, quirking his eyebrow,

Simon fidgeted, shrugging,

"Okay…maybe I won't but maybe I'll be able to keep from giggling idiotically and chattering like an over caffeinated squirrel.

At least a bit…best I can do."

Magnus chuckled, shaking his head,

"So…'maybe a bit of a fanboy'?"

Simon blushed, giving a sheepish shrug,

'Okay…yeah that was kinda underplaying it…just a little. You may have kinda been practically my idol since I was like four and I may have bugged you relentlessly for an autograph when I was about six and I may still have it in a frame in the center of my mantle."

Magnus laughed, rubbing at his eyes,

_Oh my god- the kid was too adorable…He was a LOT but he was adorable,_

He took a deep breath, glancing up, giving a bright smile. Simon smiled back, bouncing excitedly, eyes bright and curious, he leaned forward,

"So you said you have an idea for backup here? You actually know someone here? Like just a regular human? How is that possible?"

Magnus smiled, nodding, settling in, taking a deep breath, turning towards the younger man,

"Well it all started a bit after my sixth birthday. I'd finished my lessons for the day and was out playing in the forest, I decided to practice my Astro projection…"

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _End Of Chapter Notes_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

Okay so I know the names are nothing like the ones for Simon's parents in the show (I actually don't remember them- I know it was just his mom raising him and he had a sister but other than that I'm lost- sorry)

In my Slightly Evil Magnus Verse (Verse2) I gave Simon a totally different background, I think that's gonna be a bit of a constant- maybe aspects will change depending on the world but his parents will probably be close to them. I did realize I never named them (At least I don't think I did- if I did I'm going back to change them to these-)

_**Hilda-**__ Fighting a War_

_**Garrett-**__ Hard As a Spear_

Seems pretty fitting for what I have planned.

So what do you think so far?

Next chapter we should get back to Magnus and Alec, probably will pick up right around where chapter 2 left off.

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*** 19 ***


	5. Chapter 5- An Unexpected Partnership

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Chapter 5:

An Unexpected Partnership

Poor intern just cannot catch a break…

Magnus goes to the SBPD

_Chapter Complete!__*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Other-Other-Other-Other-Other_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _(Blake)_

_Ugh…_

Blake groaned, dropping her bag in a heap by the door, trudging through the little studio apartment, bypassing the tiny kitchen area and couch to collapse unceremoniously face first on her bed.

_Damnit…what a day!_

Okay Kasey was a great friend, one of the best she's ever had. He's totally sweet and ridiculous and one of the best people she knows and she loves him like the brother she never had…But so help her this is the last time she steps in to protect him.

_Oh who was she kidding…she'll always do it- It's Kasey…_

_Damnit…_

_Doesn't mean she's not gonna sulk about it._

_How the hell did this happen?_

All she was doing was relaying a message- okay so technically it's relaying a message between a powerful government organization and a terrifyingly powerful warlock with a real grudge against said government organization- but still. She figured it'd be kinda dramatic. She knew it wasn't gonna be super easy but this was insane.

She's now stuck as the 'go between' for her bosses who only just barely seem to tolerate her and what is likely the most powerful warlock in the entire magic realm.

_How does that even happen?!_

Oh, her bosses were livid when she'd told them that everything they had to tell Magnus had to go through her…yeah that wasn't awkward _(Thanks a lot Magnus)_. Even more so when she'd told them he'd refused their help, saying he had his own back up. They seemed to get more and more agitated and nervous, bombarding her with questions for nearly two hours. Questions she didn't have answers for beyond 'I don't know' and 'because the crazy powerful warlock said so'.

_Seriously this was just so insane it wasn't funny, and r-_

She's startled from her spiraling thoughts by a light knock at the door.

_Ugh…damnit…_

She just got comfortable, she wasn't expecting anyone, and she really wasn't in the mood for company. Maybe they were at the wrong place- Jen across the hall's guests are always getting the numbers mixed up. That's probably what it is, they'll figure it out. She has her own issues to deal with right now.

She burrowed further into her pillows, trying to wrap her head around the insanity of the day. Seriously, she's stuck in the middle of a quasi-feud between her bosses and the single most powerful warlock in the magic world playing telephone as said warlock travels to another world to try to find and stop whatever is disrupting the vale between worlds…

_Like….what the hell man?_

_ How could it possibly get any crazier?_

There's another knock, a little louder, a bit more insistent. She groaned, rolling over, glaring towards the door.

_Damnit Jen, maybe raise the bar to at least dudes who can figure out basic numbers!_

She sat up, blurrily mumbling the weld yn glir spell, giving a quick, somewhat aggressive flick of her wrist, the door becoming opaque, allowing her to see the interloper.

_Huh…_

_That definitely didn't look like the idiot frat house reject she was expecting._

It was a woman with brilliant flame red hair and sparkling green eyes in a soft violet tunic style top, worn jean capris and sparkly silver sandals topped off with a cute little glittering anklet dotted with charms.

Something about the girl hit a chord with her, she felt like she should know who it was but it just wasn't clicking. She didn't look familiar but at the same time Blake felt like she really should know who she was.

The woman tilted her head, an impish little smile flickering over her features. She raised her hand, giving a twinkling little wave, eyes flashing brilliant neon green.

_Oh crap…_

_It clicked._

_Clarissa Fray…_

Largely thought to be the most powerful demon in the magic realm. One of the most skilled magics in existence. The girl who can take out hoards of monsters, nightmare creatures and unimaginable horrors with a spell and a quick flick of her wrist. Likely the most powerful spell caster in the realm- bar none…

_**Oh crap…**_

_Why was there a demon at her door?_

Why was the freaking demon QUEEN at her door?!

WAVING at her?!

_The spell only worked one way!_

At least it's _**supposed**_ to…but who the hell knows with her!

_Oh man w-_

"The spell's only one way, I can't see you but I can see a spell on the door, I'm kind of sensitive to Magic shifts in my vicinity."

Blake flailed,

_Oh crap! Can she read minds?! I mean she'd heard Clarissa Frey had some qusi-psychic abilities but this i-_

"I can't read minds. Demons have heightened senses in general, most of which are specifically tuned to pick up cues for pain, panic, fear and the like. I can hear your heartbeat from here….

Aaand…that was probably the wrong thing to say as it's speeding up even more and you're verging on hyperventilating. Try to take a couple deep breaths, it should help you calm down."

_Calm down? Calm down?! How do you calm down when the most powerful spell caster in existence- and let's not forget DEMON- is randomly standing outside your door saying she can HEAR you panicking?_

"Your heart rate just went up more…you need to try to calm down Blake."

She flailed,

"Okay that's not helping! How do you know my name? Why is one of the most powerful magics in the realm just randomly standing at my door listening to me panic? And just FYI telling someone to calm down is like telling them not to get mad; it has never made it better, it just makes it worse!"

She gave a soft, surprisingly bright laugh and a bit of a shrug, holding her hands up placatingly,

"Fair point…sorry, totally unintentional. And I didn't mean to surprise you…I thought you'd of been expecting me. Didn't Magnus tell you I'd be stopping by?" she groaned, rolling her eyes, answering her own question,

"No, of course he didn't." She smiled apologetically,

"Look…this is kinda getting tedious…I know you can see me but from my POV I'm just yammering at a closed door. Can I come in please?"

Blake swallowed,

Clarissa's expression seemed to soften,

"It's okay if you don't want me too, I totally understand. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of this. I know you must be at your wits end with everything. I really don't want to add any more stress to that. I actually came by to help.

If you want me to leave I will but we really should talk so we can all be on the same page here. I can come back another time- when you're actually expecting me or I can leave my number and we can talk like that till you're more comfortable, whatever works best for you, okay?"

Blake took a deep breath, shaking her head faintly, hesitantly slipping off her bed, moving towards the door.

"Y-you're a friend of Magnus's? And you're here to help with the whole case/vale/thing?"

She nodded, smiling encouragingly,

"Yeah, I'm his backup."

Blake couldn't help a bit of a snort like laugh as she reached the door, pulling it open,

"Hell of a backup."

Clarissa laughed brightly, giving a bit of a shrug and a playful wink,

"I do try…" She smiled, stepping forward, flashing a bright smile and fluttering little wave,

"Hi Blake nice to meet you, I'm Clary."

Blake swallowed, hesitatingly reaching forward to shake her hand. 'Clary' smiled brightly, reciprocating. Blake just barely managed to fight off jerking her hand back from the touch. This close she could actually feel the power radiating from the woman; a tingling, electric buzz, kind of like being out in a powerful lightning storm.

_Oookay…n-nice demon…no sudden movements…_

Clary tilted her head, looking her over curiously, bright green eyes flickering like dancing, emerald flames.

"Your heart rate's picking up again…I'm really not trying to be scary, I'm sorry, this is as unthreatening as I get."

Blake swallowed again nodding like a bobble head, fidgeting, brushing her hair back,

"I know… working on it…we'll just power through, kay?

Hi Clary I'm Blake…and I know you know that cause you already said it but it seems polite anyways and a good starting point. So you said you're here to help?"

Clary blinked in surprise, giving a quick laugh and a kind of impressed smile, nodding,

"Yeah, like I said I'm Magnus's backup- well on this side…he's working something else there but that's a long story. Like universe hopping, time crystal, first crush, five hundred and twenty seven years of insanity long.

But here, it's me…and as you've been dragged into this, you. I'm using the Reflections spell so I can communicate with him pretty much round the clock. Your phone should work for quick little updates and the like but Mag's tends to get antsy and he's not really big on just setting on the phone for too long.

Visuals help him a lot and with the spell he can talk the same as if we were in the same room, it helps a lot as he can never seem to do just one thing at a time. In all likelihood he'll keep me appraised of the situation there and I'll be relaying the info for the council to you…and yes I see that's going to be a huge pain but it's not our circus- we're just trying to manage the idiocy as best we can.

If the council seems to be keeping too much back or decides to make things more difficult for either Mags or you I'll happily step in. They may think it's somehow a hassle or beneath them having to run things through you but guarantee they'll take dealing with you over me. Actually, if they start to give you any trouble just casually mention I'm the only other option- they'll change their tune _real_ quick.

Anyway Mags was doing the spell to crossover, he should be there by now. I was going to call him and figured rather than doing the whole telephone game in its entirety I could just come here and we could talk to him together.

But once again I really did think he at least halfway filled you in, so I thought my showing up wouldn't be totally out of the blue."

Blake blinked rapidly. Clary tilted her head, giving a bit of a frustrated huff, eyes flashing again, a bright glimmer of flickering electric green flames sparking to life, slipping from her hands beginning up her forearms. A slightly sheepish expression flashed over her features, folding her arms, trying to subtly minimize the flames.

"I swear I'm not trying to scare you, it just kinda does that sometimes."

Blake shook her head,

"Umm…n-no it's not that. I'm not so much scared right now as just trying to comprehend all that cause _wow_ that's a lot. Can we maybe try to break it down a tiny bit more?"

Clary giggled, nodding,

"Sure…where do you want to start?"

Blake nodded,

"Okay…what's a 'Reflections' spell? I've never heard of that."

Clary seemed to startle, eyes wide,

"Oh, shoot, guess that is a bit advanced. Sorry, it's been a few centuries since I was in training, it all kinda blurs after a while.

The Reflections spell is a way of communicating over great distances and even between worlds. Using it can turn any mirror or overly reflective surface into a window to the other side. I do the spell here, find Magnus's signature there and connect to it creating a link between the worlds.

See how it works i-"

"Umm…yeah I think explaining it would just end in more confused blinking on my part. Usually I'd be really interested in something like this and it sounds fascinating but it's been a really long, totally insane day and I just SO don't have the attention span for that right now…

We'll just go with 'it's super powerful magic' and leave it at that if that's alright."

Clary laughed, nodding,

"That's fine… what's next?"

Blake shrugged, relaxing slightly,

"Okay…so you said Magnus had plans for backup there- and yeah that sounds mind numbingly confusing and complicated but is there maybe like a cliff notes version or something?"

Clary nodded, chuckling with a bright smile,

"Yeah…insanely long story short when Magnus was six he was trying to practice Astro projecting and ended up accidently traveling to the human world…only he didn't realize he had an Amser Crystal from earlier in the day. It interacted with the spell to crossover and not only moved him to the other world but to the other world centuries in the future- roughly five to be precise.

When he crossed over he ran into another six year old- a boy named Alec. Magnus kept crossing over to see him and they became best friends. For some reason Alec was the only person there that could actually see Magnus. People thought he was just Alec's imaginary friend. They were very close- I actually think Alec was Magnus's first love, though both of them were far too young to realize or acknowledge it.

In any case when Magnus was nine his father found the crystal Magnus used to crossover. He broke it and there was no way Magnus could see Alec. He still could crossover but without that specific Amser crystal he couldn't get back to the right time- get back to Alec. The only way he'd ever be able to see him again is to wait for the timelines to sync back up…of course that came with its own complications. When Magnus crossed over last it was sometime in the early 1990's in the human world, it was 1488 here."

Blake blinked, shaking her head faintly,

"Damn…yeah when you say 'complicated' you mean it."

Clary nodded quickly,

"Yup. So by the time we got to 1991 here Magnus was very much a fully grown adult. I know he missed him, and I'm sure he thought more than a few times about meeting up with an older version of Alec when they'd once again seem to be contemporaries but it was just so very complicated. Because of the time deference and all that Magnus finally just resigned himself to the fact that he'd never get to see Alec again, thinking it'd be better for Alec. He'd just have to try to forget about him- let himself fade from Alec's memory, have Alec come to believe what everyone else did- that Magnus was his imaginary friend.

And for the last twenty something years or so that's exactly what he's been doing…or so I thought. Apparently a few years ago he checked up on the guy-didn't meet up with him again, just looked him up to make sure he was doing okay. He's a detective now."

Blake sighed, shaking her head,

"And this is a case…which is a perfect excuse for him to track down his old crush."

Clary chuckled, shrugging,

"Pretty much yeah…but he does need help there and you never know, it might work out. It is pretty cute- meeting up with your childhood sweetheart to save the world."

Blake laughed, quirking her eyebrow,

"You know for a demon you're kinda a sap."

Clary laughed,

"I prefer to think of it as optimistic."

Blake shrugged,

"Same difference…okay think I got it now. You're gonna do the crazy powerful spell to keep us in contact with Magnus and he's gonna use a possibly multiple world endangering threat as an excuse to get a shot at his first crush and we're just gonna try to keep everything from blowing up as best we can, right?"

Clary nodded, gesturing towards the mirror on the wall,

"Right. So do you mind if I do the spell here? Once I do it it'll follow me so it's not like you're just gonna have Magnus randomly cropping up in your mirrors or whatever."

Blake shrugged,

"Yeah, go for it."

Clary smiled, slipping through the apartment, stopping in front of the mirror, Blake falling into step beside her, glancing over curiously,

_Okay she was tired and this was all insane but on the plus side she had help- it wasn't all on her and her help was freaking terrifying…so that's kinda cool._

_Also the spell did sound pretty interesting…_

Clary flashed a quick smile, eyes glimmering bright, taking on the odd, flame like reflection, a flickering, dancing green flame slipping up her arms and over her shoulders. She took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders, an iridescent glimmer shimmering into focus over her skin, taking on an unearthly glow. She began the spell in a soft, lilting tone, the words odd and exotic, in a dialect Blake had never heard. The light around her shimmered brighter, flames flickering, rising and dancing, it was almost hypnotic.

Clary reached forward, nails extending, looking less like nails and more like claws, a glimmer of flame appearing at the tip. She traced around the edge of the mirror before moving to the center, drawing an intricate pattern before pulling back, the sinewy line remaining on the glass, a searingly bright neon line, tiny flames flickering along the entire length. At first she thought it was a trick of the light or just the flames but Blake realized the line itself was actually moving. It glimmered and twisted like a living, breathing thing. It coiled, slithering about the glass like a snake forming other patterns, letters, hieroglyphs and other intricate things that she couldn't even began to put a name to.

She couldn't help shaking her head in faint amazement, swallowing.

_Oh wow…yeah, good thing she didn't try to explain this- she's watching it and she doesn't even know what the hell's going on._

Suddenly the thing flashed, shifting from the electric green to a glimmering violet, flashing twice before transitioning back to the original green.

Clary smiled approvingly, reaching forward, running her nail lightly over the sinewy flame/snake like thing, which at this point seemed to have settled into a coil. Slowly one end of it began to move, actually lifting off the mirror. It seemed to turn towards her, seeking her out. Clary moved her hand close to it. The flame like thing curled about her fingers, trailing up her arm, mingling with the other flames already dancing until Blake could no longer make out the line thing.

Blake shook her head in amazement, looking up, startling faintly, realizing Clary was looking her way,

"It worked, we can call him now."

Blake swallowed, gesturing vaguely,

"Umm…and you thought I'd just know what 'that' was? Dude…I'm twenty two- I'm still trying to figure out basic incantations."

Clary chuckled, shaking her head,

"Sorry, as I said after a while it does all kind of blend together…give it a century or two then tell me you can remember exactly what year you learned a spell."

Blake shrugged, moving closer now that the flames were beginning to dissipate, looking over the mirror curiously,

"Okay point…So you can call Magnus now?"

She nodded, stepping forward, pressing her hand to the center of the mirror. The glass seemed to ripple, the scene changing from them to a totally different place.

_Oh wow, that was so crazy._

It was an odd room with shelves upon shelves of things she had never even imagined. She leaned closer, looking around curiously. There were potions, a large blood red cauldron in the center of the room, a small fireplace alone one wall with a little setting area containing a black table, a couple chairs and a long, elegant violet lounge.

You couldn't just see the room, She could actually hear- Magnus was idly chatting with someone. She couldn't see their faces as apparently the mirror was located behind the lounge in the setting area but she could see and hear them. She couldn't make out the actual words, just murmurs and chatter…

Kinda a lot of chatter…

Oddly familiar chatter.

She blinked in surprise, leaning , zeroing in on the light brown slightly curly hair,

_She knew that hair!_

"Simon?"

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_Oh my god how cool is this?!_

_He's actually IN the human world! A totally different world, just like that. And! And he's working WITH Magnus Bane! He's gonna be his assistant, like Magical back up! Him! Simon Lewis!_

_Dude!_

This is SO worth the crazy, sick, dizzy, spinney near hangover type feel of the crossing over thing. Yeah it'd been super painful and scary and he kinda half wondered if his head was just gonna pop from the throbbing headache thing but even so.

He was working with THE Magnus Bane! He got to see him do a crazy powerful spell that he'd never even imagined existed. Like Magnus actually transported an entire building to another world…

_What?_

He can't believe he ever actually thought anyone could really be any kind of legitimate threat to the Warlock. Honestly he felt a bit foolish getting so worried about whatever his parents were scheming; yeah it'd probably be sneaky and underhanded and shifty as hell…but this was Magnus Freaking Bane he was talking about.

He had it.

Whatever it was he had it.

He was gonna figure out what's going on, gonna stop it, foil whatever crazy underhanded scheme his parents were no doubt working and totally look awesome doing it. He even had help here- a real _actual_ human detective that was at one time Magnus's best friend. Magnus was gonna go find him and get his help and together they we're gonna save the world(s).

And Simon actually got to be part of it!

_**How cool was that?**_

Simon bounced slightly, settling closer, wide eyed, in faint awe. He shook his head in amazement giving a quick, excited laugh.

Magnus glanced over at him, tilting his head, chuckling in amusement.

"Darling, are you quite sure the transition hasn't rattled you at all? I had no idea anyone could have quite that much energy and enthusiasm."

Simon nearly giggled, blushing faintly waving him off, rolling his eyes at himself,

"No, I'm not rattled, this is just me…I know it's a lot but I can't seem to help it. I never have been able to. And dude, seriously? How can I not be excited? I'm in a whole other world- some place I've only ever read about in books. I get to work with THE Magnus Bane and a real live human detective- on like a real investigation! I've read so many detective stories it's not even funny. I LOVE mysteries and puzzles, trying to find the truth. I even went through a time for quite a while when I thought that's what I'd want to do career wise but…well…honestly I don't know if I'd ever be able to get people to take me seriously enough for something like that.

I get to be Magical backup to like the coolest most kickass Warlock ever while at the same time work on a real live investigation, with a real live detective.

That's like my two biggest dreams all rolled up into one.

How can I NOT be excited?

I mean really that's j-"

"Simon?"

Simon froze, blinking in confusion, looking around but not spotting anyone. That was odd…it almost sounded like Blake…

He tilted his head glancing over at Magnus,

"Y-you heard that right?"

Magnus nodded,

Simon nodded back,

"Kay good…I'm not hearing voices…where-"

"Simon! Back here, the mirror behind you guys."

He spun around on the lounge leaning looking around curiously, Spotting an elegant mirror mounted on the wall in a large intricately carved black frame. Simon tilted his head in confusion…

The mirror was glowing. An odd glimmering mix of green and electric violet flickering about the edges, it almost looked like flames.

_Woah…_

He shook his head blinking a couple times gaze slipping from the odd flame like whatever-it-was down to the image in the mirror…

Simon froze…eyes wide…

_Oookay…maybe he spoke too soon on the whole not rattled thing. A mirror's a mirror- it's supposed to show a reflection of whatever's in front of it…_

That was not what he was seeing.

In the mirror where he'd expect to see the reflection of him and Magnus in the Annex he instead saw Blake Zamir one of his best friends and an Intern for the The Council.

He shook his head, thinking his eyes had to be playing tricks on him, but no…that was Blake. That was her kinda messy short blonde hair and grayish blue eyes and random assortment of earrings and her favorite faded blue band tank top and worn grey jeans with the hole in the knee that she changed into the second she was off the clock…

That was Blake…

In Blake's apartment…

In the mirror.

Standing next to a very pretty woman with flame red hair and shimmering green eyes that mirrored the flames framing the mirror.

Okay, that's just freaky.

Apparently he's not the only one thrown by the oddity,

Blake blinked in surprise, giving a slight laugh, raising her hand waving slowly. Simon raised his hand, waving back.

"Dude…what?"

Blake gave a bright laugh,

"Hey! That was my question!"

Simon laughed, hopping up off the lounge, quickly moving over, faintly registering Magnus following suit, at a bit slower pace, chuckling.

"Ah well the spell worked, and I see you two met."

The redhead huffed, giving a faintly exasperated look, quirking her eyebrow,

"Yes…and thanks Mag's really helpful."

Magnus gasped,

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, gesturing towards Blake,

"I kinda figured you'd give her a bit of a heads up I was helping you guys."

Magnus blinked,

"I did a…oh wait…no I didn't, I had every intention of filling her in but I really wanted to get the spell underway…sorry, hope it wasn't too awkward."

Blake gave a faint laugh,

"Oh yeah, the freaking demon queen showing up at my place out of the blue telling me she can hear me panicking through the door, what could possibly be awkward about that?" She seemed to startle, glancing over at the redheaded- apparent demon- giving a sheepish shrug,

"Uh…n-no offense."

She laughed, shaking her head, waving her off,

"No problem, I've been called far worse…" She flashed a bright smile shifting back to their side of the mirror, tilting her head curiously, glancing over Simon,

He swallowed,

_W-wait…Demon queen? No…no way…_

He shook his head,

"Y-you're Clarissa Fray?"

She grinned brightly, nodding, tucking a lock of brilliant red hair behind her ear,

"Yup…that's me, you can call me Clary. And you are?"

Simon flailed, eyes wide, swallowing,

"S-Simon…Simon Lewis…"

He eyes flickered faintly, blinking in surprise,

"Lewis?"

He flailed again,

"Yeah I know Hilda And Garrett's son and yeah they are my parents and I know they're sneaky and underhanded and shady as hell and a whole other laundry list of things but I swear I'm SO not like that…I am like the total polar opposite of them. I'm not working for them or with them or anything like that- if anything I'm working against them.

I came to find Magnus cause I heard the interns saying about Magnus gonna crossover to the human world to find out what's up with the vale and I remembered hearing my parents talking about having to get 'him' across the vale and it just seemed, like, Super suspicious and so I wanted to find Magnus and give him a heads up just in case and so I went over to his place to tell him so I used a spell to find out where he was and he was in the Annex of his house and I didn't want to wait outside cause if my parents found out I was here it'd be like, all kinds of drama so I maybe kinda sorta broke in and I wanted to just give him a heads up but when I saw him he was in the middle of a spell and I know they can be super complicated and take a bunch of concentration and I didn't want to throw him off so I just decided to wait till he was done only then there was the spell and Oh my GOD that was, like the coolest thing ever!

Like there was lightning and waves crashing and like all kinds of craziness and the whole building shook and rattled and then everything went dark. It was SO cool, even with the hangover like after effects it was so totally worth it…

A-and…so umm…yeah…

H-hi Clary…"

She blinked rapidly at the torrent of words, a flicker of concern crossing over her features, tilting her head, looking him over,

"Umm…hi Simon…nice to meet you. So, Umm…are you feeling okay? I know the transfer between worlds can be quite jarring a-"

Blake laughed beside her shaking her head quickly, giving a slightly unconcerned wave,

"Yeah, he's fine…that's not the transition, that's just Simon- he's always like that. Kinda takes a bit to get used to, but once you do it's actually pretty endearing…well…most of the time.

After you've had your coffee."

Simon laughed, eyes wide,

"Hey! I try damnit…and I'm better than I was at least."

She snickered, nodding,

"Oh yeah…that's the scary part."

Magnus chuckled, glancing between them,

"Well…I take it you two know each other so that's one less introduction we need to deal with, that's good. Simon this is one of my best friends Clary, she's our backup on that side. No offense Blake darling but I figure if the council decides to cause issues I need someone a bit more intimidating than an intern on a skateboard."

Blake laughed, holding her hands up,

"Hey, no arguments here…I'm just glad it's not all on me over here…H-hey wait…" she paused, blinking shifting back to Simon,

"Okay I just managed to wade through all of your Simon-babble…You are actually IN the human world?"

He nodded

"Yeah…it was an accident but yeah I'm in the human world."

She tilted her head in concern,

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean I know the babbling is just you but from everything I've read the transition's supposed to be hell."

Simon snorted,

"Yeah, and they totally downplayed it. But I'm good now…Thankfully Magnus was able to fix it- not that that's any surprise…I mean it's Magnus Freaking Bane. I get to help him with the case! He said he won't be able to cross back over for at least a month or two. So in the meantime I'm his Magical backup here…how cool is that?"

She gave a bright laugh, eyes wide, glancing over at Magnus,

"Oh…dude…you have no clue what you're getting into."

Simon flailed,

"Hey! You don't have to tell him that! And I'm good at Magic- I mean I'm not like their level- not even close…but for my age I'm pretty skilled."

Blake giggled, shaking her head,

"Si, it's not the Magic part I'm referring to."

He blushed, fidgeting, crossing and uncrossing his arms,

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about."

She rolled her eyes,

"Dude! We roomed together for almost a year- you drove me bonkers…I love you to death and you are one of my best friends in the entire world, but dude- you're a LOT to deal with 24/7…

And I'm not someone you've been fangirling about for like two thirds of your life."

Simon blushed brighter, rubbing at his neck,

"I…I wouldn't say 'fangirling'…"

Magnus chuckled quirking his eyebrow,

"I would."

Simon huffed,

"Okay so maybe I was…a bit…but just a bit…and I swear I'll get it under control and I'll really try to reign it in and I know I'm a lot and I'm sorry about that but I really will try my best not to annoy you-

Well…actually I never really purposely try to annoy anyone…

Except really obnoxious jackasses…or overly self involved creeps who can't take a hint that someone's not interested…and sometimes my parents…

B-but you're not any of those so it doesn't matter- it really should be fine. And I am good with magic at least for my age, even for a few years ahead…there's some spells I can do that usually take over a century to get down and I can no sweat…so It's not all bad and a-"

He's cut off by Magnus giving a bright laugh, rolling his eyes, slipping his arm casually around his shoulder, pressing a quick playful kiss to his cheek.

Simon flushed brilliantly,

"Sweetheart you are too adorable, it'll be fine...if anything else having you around will lighten things up." Magnus shook his head affectionately, grinning, shifting his focus from Simon back to Clary and Blake,

"In any case it appears we have everything all set up. I have the council running everything through Blake- which while keeping me from having to interact with them also should have the delightful bonus of annoying them to no end. Clary has her back and Blake? Honestly they give you any trouble whatsoever just drop Clary's name and watch how fast their demeanor changes.

I am confident you two more than have things well in hand there and here I already have more help than I anticipated." He paused, squeezing Simon's shoulder in emphasis, glancing over at Clary,

"See, no need to worry darling I even have actual Magic backup here. One more addition and our little group will be complete and we can get started on the case."

Clary giggled, quirking her eyebrow impishly,

"Yeah clearly the 'case' is what you're thinking about."

Magnus gave an exaggerated gasp,

"It is! Clarissa Fray I don't know what you are implying but I am totally focused."

She grinned,

"Oh I'm sure you are…"

Magnus huffed,

"On the case!"

She snorted,

"Uh huh…"

"I am a-"

She rolled her eyes,

"Mag's drop it. You've been crushing on the dude for over five centuries and you are an hour or so away from seeing him when you had all but given up hope ever getting to see him again. No one's judging you for being excited…and I am sure it will be wonderful."

Magnus deflated, sighing, giving a faint nod,

"I hope so…it is going to be quite a shock for him, I do hope it's not too much for the darling to handle."

Clary gave a gentle smile, shaking her head,

"Mag's it will be a lot, but the guy's a detective. I'm sure he deals with crazy, impossible situations all the time- I mean not so much realm hopping warlock, time travel crystal, imaginary friend come to life kind but still, he should be used to facing crazy situations…

I think it will be fine. And I really do think it'll be good for you."

He huffed out a laugh,

"You're such a sap."

She shrugged,

"I know…but I'm also one of the most powerful demon in the Magic realm and the most powerful spell caster in existence, so few people are stupid enough to give me grief on the subject."

Magnus chuckled shrugging, giving a faint nod,

"True enough."

She smiled,

"Good luck with Alec…I really can't wait to meet him. I've heard so much about him it almost feels like I know him already…"

"Can't wait."

Magnus smiled, nodding,

"Well assuming everything goes as planned soon enough you will."

Clary smirked glancing over at Simon, flashing a playful wink

"Let me know how many wardrobe changes he goes through before he heads out...I always love seeing flustered, giddy Magnus."

Magnus huffed rolling his eyes,

"Okay now enough of that we have a life and death case to focus on.

So, about the council…"

Simon shook his head faintly, the chatter fading into the background. He was trying to pay attention but honestly near every ounce of focus he had was wrapped up in keeping himself from giggling like an idiot or doing a painfully awkward victory dance.

_Oh my god!_

_He was working with Magnus FREAKING Bane!_

_He was working with Clarissa Fray- basically the adorably terrifying redheaded demon version Of Magnus Bane…_

_He was gonna get to meet a real live detective and work on a real live case!_

_And he was gonna get to do it all with one of his best friends!_

_Oh my god…he may pass out…_

_Probably would if that wouldn't totally prove Blake's Fangirling thing right._

_He took a deep breath, folding his arms across his chest, trying to keep still, biting his lip to keep the excited squeaking noise threatening to escape…_

_Dude…_

_This was the best day ever!_

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weld yn glir= Clear View

Kay the usual will proof at work…but I LOVE Simon here (Well in all verses but he's so adorable and innocent here)

So what do you guys think so far?

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*** 27 ***


	6. Chapter 6- A VERY Surprising Visitor

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Chapter 6:

A Very Surprising Visitor

Chapter Complete! _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

Magnus took a deep breath, swallowing nervously, trying to steady himself as he began up the steps of the SBPD precinct.

_Alright get it together Magnus…_

This isn't a social call. You're not just looking him up for kicks. You're here on a mission. There's a threat to your world- BOTH of your worlds. You need help from someone familiar with the human world.

Alec is the only human you have ever really met. He's your only shot. This is not just you looking up an old crush.

_It's NOT…_

He paused at the door, taking in his reflection in the glass consideringly, fixing his hair a bit, double checking his makeup, taking one more deep- hopefully calming- breath, nodding slightly to himself, reaching for the door handle.

_Okay…here goes nothing…_

He purposefully relaxed, loosening his shoulders, relaxing his stance, taking on his usual confident, poised, totally in control, badass warlock persona, sharp smirk firmly in place, pulling the door open, striding in confidently, curiously glancing around.

The place was really bustling. Officers, detectives and other assorted personnel rushing around hard at work; typing away on computers, combing through files or hurrying about the bullpen. A few glanced up curiously at the door opening. A shorter dark haired man caught sight of him just as he was beginning to set in his desk chair. His eyes widened, fumbling slightly, nearly missing the seat altogether.

Magnus chuckled slightly, glancing curiously around at the rest. A youngish officer with light, reddish blond hair was walking chatting with a couple others, he slowed a bit catching sight of Magnus, blinking, glancing over Magnus in surprise. Magnus flashed a slight smile, the guy blushed, stumbling slightly, startling as he accidently ran right into the wall just beside the hallway the rest of the group had started down. He stumbled, blushing, clamoring to regain his footing and keep up with the others. Magnus gasped, trying to cover a faint, surprised laugh.

_Oops…perhaps he should have toned himself down a bit…people didn't seem quite as flashy as the magics back home…_

They'd seemed quite a bit more over the top in comparison when he was younger, but to be fair comparing medieval garb to clothing choices of the 1990's even something quite simple would have seemed pretty ostentatious.

He supposed for a police station what he was wearing was a bit eye catching, especially for the middle of the day.

It's possible he went a bit overboard.

_Eh, hardly the first time, won't be the last. He's never been one to tone down himself to appease others- he's not about to start now._

Besides Alexander had always been kinda intrigued by Magnus's interest in makeup and sparkly, eye catching things…

Magnus always told him it was because it reminded him of magic. Alec would just roll his eyes, saying it wasn't a 'Magic' thing…just a 'Magnus' thing…He always smiled so brightly when he said it, his pretty eyes would twinkle.

_Sigh…_

_Um…uh…n-not that that was in any way relevant now._

It just made sense really; He knew it'd be a near impossible thing to convince someone of. _**Anyone**_; much less an actual head detective. It would go a long way if Alec can actually recognize him. That's why he put so much effort into his look for the day…it wasn't like Clary said- he wasn't 'flustered', it was purely a tactical move. It was logical.

I mean yes, showing Alexander magic would be a good way of providing unequivocal proof, but he didn't really want to do much of that at an actual police precinct, it's far too much of a risk.

Humans may not be accustomed to Magic but they could still see it, even sense it at times…they wouldn't know what it was, just a little tickle in the back of their brain; that hint of a warning that something is more dangerous than it looks. They wouldn't know what it was unless they actually saw something that could only be explained by magic- and only magic.

Very few humans' first instinct when seeing something unusual or feeling something unsettling is 'oh, a wizard did it'. They'd look for rational explanations and all of that before settling on Magic. Many might even blow the feeling off as a fluke, but even so it could be enough to arouse interest or suspicion…

Which he most definitely did not need.

He figured he could show Alec his unglamoured eyes but that was about all he wanted to do here. He knew he'd have a lot of explaining to do. Alec would no doubt have questions…no doubt have been pretty hurt by his sudden disappearance. He knew he'd have to go into the basics here but didn't want to get into the bulk of everything until he could get the man away from the precinct. He wanted to take him back to the annex, get them somewhere they could really talk and where he was free to demonstrate his magic as much as Alec needed to truly convince him this was the truth. Then, once they got their personal history and explanation done he could really go into the details of the issues with the vale and why he was here now.

And the easiest way to do that is to make it as easy as possible for Alec to recognize him.

_Which w-_

"Excuse me, did you need help?"

Magnus startled at the voice beside him, turning quickly to see the speaker. The young officer startled, blinking, eyes flickering over Magnus, cheeks flushing faintly, nervously brushing a couple sandy brown curls back out of his eyes, giving a slightly unsure wave,

"Um…uh…h-hi…"

Magnus relaxed, tilting his head,

"Hello dear."

"Wow…Oh! Umm…Sorry _**totally**_ unprofessional. Hi, I-I'm officer Phineas. I'm working the front desk today; can I help you with something?"

Magnus chuckled, flashing a grateful smile, nodding, reaching forward to shake his hand. Phineas blushed clear to his ears,

"Hello Officer Phineas, I'm Magnus Bane, delighted to meet you darling…and yes I do hope you can help me with something. I'm actually looking for Alexander Lightwood. He is the head detective here, yes?"

Phineas swallowed, nodding quickly, brushing his hair back again,

"Y-yeah…umm…w-why?" He pauses, startling faintly, eyes slipping over Magnus again.

"Are you his boyfriend?"

Magnus felt a bit of a thrill at that, blinking in surprise, before pausing,

"Boyfriend? He has a boyfriend?"

Phineas shrugged, scratching at his neck nervously,

"Well no…I mean I don't know…I think he's single right now…at least he's not mentioned anyone. Least not to me- He's usually pretty guarded about personal stuff though, doesn't want to be part of the gossip mill…

Though I kinda get the feeling even someone as close-lipped as Alec wouldn't be able to shut up about dating you …umm…I U-"

Magnus laughed brightly, reaching over squeezing the young officer's arm,

"You are adorable…" He paused, tilting his head, reaching up, brushing his hair back, fiddling with his dragon earcuff, flashing a playfully impish smile,

"So…I take it that means you think I'd have a shot with him?"

Phineas gave a loud laugh, gesturing towards Magnus,

"Dude, are you kidding me? Cato's totally straight- he almost fell out of his chair when you came in…Think you have a shot with anyone you want."

Magnus gave a delighted laugh, squeezing his arm gently,

"Well thank you darling…though that is rather jumping ahead a few steps. Rather poor form hitting on someone you haven't seen in what seems like centuries."

Phineas scoffed, quirking his eyebrow, pointedly looking Magnus over yet again,

"Dude…REALLY don't think he'd mind."

Magnus chuckled, shrugging,

"Even so, one step at a time. It has been ages. I actually haven't seen him since we were children. I'm back in town for a while and I thought it'd be nice to see him again, get caught up."

Phineas blinked,

"Really? That long?"

Magnus grinned, nodding,

Phineas shook his head, giving a slight chuckle,

"He's in for a hell of a surprise."

Magnus laughed, shrugging,

"True…with any luck he'll think it's a good one."

Phineas nodded,

"He will."

Magnus chuckled, glancing around curiously,

"Hopefully…Is he in today?"

Phineas began to nod but paused, shaking his head instead,

"Umm…well, he is but he and his partner are out on a case right now. He called in a bit ago. Detective Santiago was finishing up the interview with their suspects boss, said they should be back in an hour or so…

I-if you want to come back or leave a number I c-"

Magnus shrugged,

"Actually, would it be okay if I waited?"

Phineas hesitated,

"I…umm... well I guess you could wait in the break room if you really wanted to. But I-it's a really long time to just sit and wait. Might get really boring…are you s-"

Magnus smiled gratefully, nodding, glancing around the bullpen,

"Quite sure, that would be perfect. Thank you darling. Where is it?"

He shrugged, nodding towards one of the hallways,

"Just up here, I'll show you…"

Magnus beamed, falling into step next to the officer,

He glanced over, tilting his head,

"Are you sure you don't want to just leave a number- I can give him the message, have him call you as soon as he gets back."

Magnus shook his head,

"No…I'd really prefer just to stay." He paused, glancing over, giving a slight shrug,

"Sorry… I don't mean to be a bother but I really don't want to chance not being able to get up the courage to come back."

Phineas tilted his head,

"Huh?"

He sighed, shrugging,

"To be honest I'm usually pretty brave but I've been quite nervous since I decided to come here. I ended up moving rather abruptly…I never even got a chance to say goodbye. I really wanted to, tried everything I could, but it was just impossible…beyond impossible.

I know once the initial shock wares off he'll probably be rather upset…I just hope he'll hear me out."

Phineas shrugged, shaking his head,

"I think it should be okay…Alec's a great guy- kinda uptight sometimes but great. Easily one of the best detectives I've ever met. He's really level headed and really fair- I'm sure he'll hear you out…

Besides like you said, you were a kid- not like you'd have a hell of a lot of say in what happened, right?"

Magnus sighed, tilting his head in acknowledgement,

"True."

Phineas nodded quickly, stopping in front of one room, pushing the door open, holding it for Magnus,

"Yeah Alec'll see that, it may take a sec but he'll get it…plus…well… Quite frankly you look like _**that**_ and the guys neither blind nor a eunuch…so you know…you're good."

Magnus gave a surprise laugh,

"Good to know if all else fails I can just fall back on the old 'seduction' plan." he chuckled, shaking his head,

"Assuming of course I'd even be interested in him in that way…I haven't seen him since we were kids, long before any of that came into play. He always was adorable though, especially when he'd blush- and he had the prettiest eyes I'd ever seen."

Phineas chuckled, shrugging,

"Yeah, well I wouldn't refer to him as 'adorable' as one, he's my commanding officer and two, I have a general rule about not referring to people who I've personally seen on several occasions take down armed criminals without so much as breaking a sweat by terms usually associated with kittens and puppies. But he does have pretty nice eyes.

I think so long as you're good with tall, GQ model types with a badge and a gun, you're pretty well set.

Which…well…who isn't?

Actually you two would make a really striking couple."

Magnus chuckled,

"Like I said, one thing at a time, and a-

Wait…_Tall?_

He's tall?"

Phineas snorted,

"Wow…really has been a while, huh?"

Magnus rolled his eyes,

"Sweetheart you have no idea." He paused, tilting his head curiously,

"But…tall…like taller than me, tall?"

Phineas shrugged, smiling,

"Guess you'll just have to find out…I have to get back to work. It was nice meeting you Magnus, I'll make sure to send him in soon as he gets here…oh um…unless you really want the door open I'm gonna pull it to. Just, if it's open I figure near every unattached idiot who passes by is gonna be coming in trying to make small talk- might kinda ware thin after a while."

Magnus chuckled, nodding, giving a twinkling little wave,

"Good idea and thank you again dear, it was lovely meeting you as well, I appreciate it."

He shrugged, smiling,

"No problem," he flashed a quick wave, tugging the door nearly closed.

Magnus chuckled, shaking his head, glancing around the break room curiously, letting his mind wander…

_Hmm…_

_So…Alexander was interested in men…that was…_

_Quite interesting…_

Okay, so he'd kinda got that vibe when they were younger. Not that you could tell much when you were nine, and he wouldn't have even known what a 'vibe' was back then. Still he never minded Magnus being…well…Magnus. And he blushed so adorably when Magnus would kiss his cheek.

It had been perfectly innocent. Magnus was always a pretty physically affectionate person, but still it did seem rather out of place for a boy.

Alec never minded it though…he'd always kinda smile, blushing, glancing at Magnus with a sweet, surprised look…

M-Magnus may have done it a bit more with Alec then other people.

_Sigh…_

Alec always had the most beautiful smile, his whole face would light up and those pretty hazely green eyes would sparkle.

He really hopes he still has that smile. It was absolutely adorable on a nine year old. He had a little buzzing feeling it would be something else entirely on a fully grown adult man.

A _**tall**_ adult man. That made him chuckle a bit. Alec had always been nearly two inches shorter than Magnus- it irked him to no end.

Wonder just how tall he was? Going by Phineas's surprised laugh it must be at least a bit taller than Magnus.

_Hmm…_

Well…Magnus is six feet even…And today he's wearing his midnight blue boots that give him nearly two extra inches…

_Sigh,_

He did have a bit of a weakness for taller men. It was sweet being able to slip his arm around a shorter guys shoulder, tug them closer, wrap his arms around their waist, brush a kiss on there cheek, but…

_Hmm…_

Having someone able to do that with him, wrap around him, feeling protected and secure in their arms. Someone able to crowd in, catch him, hold him… the excited, little thrilling rush of the extra bit of physical power and strength.

Having to lean up a bit to kiss them…

_Mmm.._

_Umm…yeah…that DEFINITELY worked for him…._

_Hmm…Alexander…_

A 'Tall, GQ model type man with a badge and a gun who could take down an armed criminal without breaking a sweat'…

_H-he didn't really know what 'GQ' meant but model was pretty self explanatory…_

_Goodness…_

If he's all that with the pretty eyes and that beautifully sweet smile Magnus may very well be in trouble here.

_Not that it wouldn't be more than worth the trouble…_

_Alexander was most definitely worth the trouble._

He couldn't believe he was going to get to see Alexander again…he was less than an hour away…

Magnus fought down a slightly giddy near giggle before taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

_Okay…enough._

Yes it is exciting and yes he never really believed he'd get this chance but he was not here for that. As much as he wanted to see Alexander this wasn't just a look up an old friend for nostalgic sake…

There was something wrong with the vale between worlds; that was huge and terrifyingly dangerous. If there was a real problem with the vale? If it malfunctioned… If it fell?

Neither world would ever be the same. It would be anarchy. Humans would suddenly be faced with the reality of Warlocks, demons, Fae, angels and all the rest of the beings that inhabited the magical world…

_And the Magics?_

He really didn't know. Many had never even seen a human. They knew nothing of the human world. Yes in many ways the worlds mirrored one another but there were some vast differences.

So many Humans couldn't even manage to get along with other humans because of differences as trivial and meaningless as race, political and religious beliefs and the like…

How would they be able to handle the sudden knowledge of beings that were literally entirely new species to them? Dozens of new species. Many with abilities and powers the likes of which no human has ever known…

He shook his head,

It would nearly be the end of both worlds as they knew it, none of their lives would ever be the same.

They needed to prevent that…

In order to do that he needed help from this side. The anomalies were originating from the human world…a heretofore totally unknown form of magic.

That was unprecedented.

He needed help…and Alexander was the only one he knew here. He didn't need Alec for a possible boyfriend. He needed him to help him save multiple worlds.

That was a fair bit more important than those pretty hazely green eyes and that wonderfully sweet smile…

Magnus couldn't fight off a slight smile, sighing faintly.

_Though he's not gonna exactly hate having a nice view during the whole saving multiple worlds thing._

He chuckled, shrugging, idly wandering about the break room, looking things over curiously, pausing in front of a large, elaborate floral arrangement in the center of the break room table…

Well, in the center- taking up three-quarters of the table- same difference. It really was quite ostentatious…

_Hmm…well Someone clearly made quite the impression…_

He glanced around the elaborate explosion of flowers, eye catching on a small white card on a stick near the top of the riot of color. He reached over, tilting it faintly to be able to read the delivery info,

**Detective Santiago**

_**C/O**_

_**SBPD**_

**From **

**Alistair Jaden **

_**C/O**_

_**California State Prison LAC**_

_Huh…_

Magnus shook his head, turning it over curiously, reading the slightly fussy script.

_To Detective Raphael Santiago,_

_For the detective that caught my eye (And the rest of me for the next three years)._

_Two years and forty-eight days left._

_I'll be free in April…_

_Can I see you again?_

_Alistair Jaden _

Magnus blinked in surprise, reading over it again to be sure he got that right. He shook his head, chuckling faintly.

Hmm…a convict sending a huge floral arrangement and what amounts to a flirty love note to the detective that caught him. In general he'd think it was a type of threat or the like but everything he could sense from it appeared genuine…the guy seemed practically lovestruck…

With his arresting officer….

_Oookay then._

That's rather unexpected.

_Hmm…_

Detective Santiago?

Wasn't that the name Of Alec's partner Phineas mentioned?

This 'Detective Raphael Santiago' seemed a rather interesting person. Perhaps during his visit he'll get to meet him.

He chuckled again, shaking his head, replacing the card in the little holder, eyes slipping over the riotous display of color. He reached over, lightly tracing along the petals of a brilliant red Amaryllis.

"Ha, ha, real funny J-…."

Magnus startled faintly, gracefully turning at the voice, he froze…

Oh…

_**Wow…**_

Magnus's eyes widened, slipping over the rather startled man before him. Starting at the slightly messy dark, nearly black brown hair, gorgeous sharp features, soft looking lips and those oh so beautiful pear colored eyes.

His eyes traveled down, over the strong powerful shoulders and arms over the impressive chest and down to the very long legs.

_Oh…Whoa…_

_Alexander DEFINITELY grew up…_

_Quite spectacularly in fact…_

_**Damn…**_

Okay he knows what he insisted to Clary but the 'seduce him into helping' plan has officially shot up to plan A…

Actually clear past it.

_And Again…_

_**DAMN…**_

_Wasn't __**Magnus**__ supposed to be the imaginary/fantasy being here!?_

That right there is a walking, talking fantasy come true if Magnus has ever seen one.

Magnus couldn't help a slight gasp, and a faintly breathless, disbelieving laugh, eyes sliding oh so slowly back up that long, lean, powerful body, all the way back up tilting his head back faintly meeting those oh so beautiful, dazzlingly bright hazely green eyes.

The most beautiful eyes he's ever seen in his entire five hundred and forty one year long life.

Eyes he'd given up on ever seeing again centuries ago…

Magnus swallowed, reaching up, subconsciously fiddling with his dragon earcuff, brushing his hair back, trying in vain to get his heart rate back to a normal not hazardous speed…

_It wasn't really working but he could not care less._

_Alexander was there…_

_Right. There._

_Less than six feet in front of him._

_Oh goodness…_

_H-he felt lightheaded…_

_He may pass out._

_Hmm..._

_If he passed out would Alexander catch him?_

_Mmm…he __**definitely**__ looked more than strong enough to handle it…_

_And just about anything else…_

_Ooh…there went his heart again._

He swallowed again, meeting those dizzying eyes, giving a soft, totally amazed smile,

"H-hello Alexander…"

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*** 18 ***


	7. Chapter 7- Past, Present, Future

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**Chapter 7:**

**Past, Present, Future**

_Chapter Complete!_

**Chapter Notes**

Oh my gosh! We just have one chapter left!

I can't believe it!

So here's the thing I have 5 stories (Verses 3,4,5,6, and 9) that are just 1 and a half chapters away…I'm gonna focus on alternating between these 5 until I get them completed.

The last chapters I WILL be updating as one part-

But I haven't written them yet so it may be a tiny bit delayed (Not too bad I don't think…I have 4 more to do the last half of ch7 then I can start on the final chapters- I have all of them planned out but you know those are like a couple vague paragraphs)

I have Thursday and Friday off this week…I'm _***Hoping***_ barring any unforeseen circumstances I can get my ch 7's done this week and begin on the final chapters.

It's gonna drive me crazy not posting the 1st halves as I go but if I do that than the story will be marked as complete and I don't want people missing the 2nd half.

Anyways, onto the actual chapter...

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* _Alec Alec Alec Alec Alec_ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"H-hello Alexander…"

Alec blinked,

_W-what…th…w…how is t…_

Alec swallowed nervously, rapidly blinking, his eyes traveling again over the gorgeous man standing in front of him.

_Geez… no wonder poor Phineas was so amped up. _

The guy was an absolute knock out. Tall, not quite as tall as Alec, but tall nonetheless. Lithe and lean with just the right amount of muscle- all of which was more than perfectly highlighted by his outfit; a slim-fitting midnight blue shirt in some obscenely expensive, silky fabric that seemed to flow over him perfectly emphasizing his sleek figure and slim waist. The shirt was barely half buttoned giving glimpses of multiple necklaces of varying lengths and styles as well as a rather tantalizing amount of his chest…which was…umm…

_Whoa…_

As if all of that wasn't enough the man had on tight-wow- REALLY tight- black jeans adorned with small, silvery studs around the pockets and down the sides, showing off distractingly long legs ending in deep, midnight blue boots with a bit of a heel, making his legs look even longer…

Alec gulped, feeling a bit light headed.

The man was unbelievably beautiful but the physical beauty wasn't even half of it. His movements were odd, smooth, fluid and purposeful with a near leonine grace that was unlike anything Alec had ever seen. He was beyond eye catching; everywhere Alec looked he saw sparkles and shimmer. The necklaces and glittering rings and weirdly captivating dragon earcuff thing and glimmering midnight blue nails shimmering with silver specks that caught in the light and reminded Alec of starlight.

His unusual, impossibly deep brown eyes were highlighted perfectly with striking winged eyeliner; eyelids and cheekbones dusted with a soft shimmery iridescent something or other. There was a slight shimmer to his lips as well, which were full and pink and looked unbelievably soft and unfairly distracting, making Alec's breath catch, pulse picking up to a rather worrisome speed…

_Oh…wow…_

The man was beyond gorgeous no question, but there was something else there that stood out above the colorful, glittery, shimmery trappings and distractions, something that shown through crystal clear.

_Power._

_The man was powerful…_

Pretty as he was this was NOT someone people should screw with.

The man absolutely radiated power, strength and total confidence. Not confidence as in narcissism or arrogances. The kind of total confidence that comes from knowing unequivocally you are in total control, that whatever you come up against you can handle.

There was a definite edge under all the pretty; he could see it in the confident movements, sparking in those deep, bewitching eyes…

_T-those eyes are what really caught Alec above all else. _

There was a depth there beyond anything Alec had ever seen. They seemed so unfathomably deep and nearly unsettling from the sheer power Alec could feel from that beautiful gaze. There was a spark, a fire there that could not be totally hidden…it was unlike anything Alec had ever seen…

And yet he knew those eyes…

Saw them near every day for almost four years…

Four of the best years of his life.

The color was wrong though.

No…Not 'wrong'…

_Glamoured…_

He remembered that…he'd only ever seen the impossibly dark brown eyes a few times…they were pretty, really pretty…

But they weren't nearly as pretty as his real ones…

Those weren't dark…

They were bright…brilliant, blazing, shimmering gold. They sparked, danced and flashed like firelight…

Twenty-Five years later and he could still see those beautiful, brilliant, flashing golden eyes clear as day anytime he closed his eyes.

He'd know those eyes anywhere…

Even behind the glamour.

Alec swallowed again, kind of fumbling for the door, shakily pushing it closed, not daring to take his eyes off the vision in front of him…

The fantasy…

The hallucination…

Because that had to be what it was…

_It had to be…_

Yes, the man was absolutely breathtaking, without a doubt the single most stunning, eye-catching, dazzling person Alec had ever seen but that wasn't what was stopping him near dead in his tracks, making his head spin and his pulse race…

_T-that…That was Magnus._

_**That. Was. Magnus.**_

That- right there- not six feet in front of him, standing in the middle of the brake room of his precinct was his childhood imaginary friend…

All grown up…

Alec blinked again, swallowing, faintly shaking his head,

"I-w-wha…" He shook his head again,

Magnus gasped softly, eyes widening, looking him over in concern, taking a few steps closer, placatingly holding his hands up, moving slow and cautious as if trying not to spook a cornered animal…

_As if he's worried Alec would bolt…_

_Or possibly faint…_

Gotta admit, the approach was probably kinda warranted. He's generally not a 'fainting, panicking, spook and run' type person. Usually he was pretty cool and calm under pressure, and he tended to remain level headed and rational even in the most bizarre of circumstances.

But there's 'bizarre' and then there's a grown up literal fantasy come to life looking version of your childhood imaginary _(Warlock) _best friend just randomly showing up in the SBPD break room after two and a half decades.

_Uh…yeah…the 'spooked animal' look is most definitely warranted here._

Magnus paused a bit in front of him, swallowing, pretty brown eyes slipping over him nervously, beginning to reach for his arm before seemingly thinking better of it, tilting his head in concern,

"Alexander…sweetheart? Perhaps you should sit down darling…you look somewhat unsteady."

Alec gulped, nodding quickly, making his way over to one of the break room chairs, kind of collapsing into it. Magnus turned, quickly slipping over to the soda machine in the corner, looking over the selections, hand slipping lightly over the buttons, pausing on the third one down as it faintly glimmered with a shimmering violet aura. Magnus hit the button, the drink dispensing, stooping a bit to retrieve it before quickly making his way over to the table, pulling one of the other chairs closer, setting down facing Alec, opening the can, holding it out to Alec.

He took it kinda shakily, downing about half the can in one go before slowing, taking a couple deep breathes. He sat the can aside, reaching up, rubbing at his face, taking a couple more deep breaths, trying to center himself. He sat for a few moments, just breathing, trying to take in all of this, to find somewhere to begin. He reached over, picking up the can of root beer, taking another sip.

A soft laugh catches his attention. He swallows, glancing over at Magnus curiously. He chuckled again, flashing a soft, warm smile, nodding towards the can of root beer in amusement,

"That's still your favorite?"

Alec gave a slight shrug, nodding,

"Some things don't change…" he sighed, eyes slipping slowly over Magnus, swallowing again, taking a deep breath,

"And some really do."

Magnus eyes sparked in surprise, laughing, giving a quick nod, pretty deep eyes shifting over Alec,

"Mmm…I'll say they do…" He chuckled,

"You're taller than me! Don't know if I like that."

Alec gave a slight laugh, shrugging, flashing a sheepish smile,

"Sorry?"

Magnus gasped softly, eyes flickering, a glimmer of gold in the deep brown depths, giving a bright near giggling laugh, shifting towards him before pausing, swallowing, shaking his head faintly, kind of fidgeting towards the edge of the chair,

"I-it…it really is you. I- okay- I know this is insane and you have no clue what's going on and probably think you've lost your mind and are bound for the nearest mental institution but I swear you're not, darling. You're not. This is real, I'm real- I'm here…

I-I'm here and you're here and I never thought I'd get to see you again. I'd given up hope so long ago- you can't imagine how long ago- how much I tried to make myself forget, move on, put it behind me, trying to tell myself that it's how it had to be, that it was too complicated and I couldn't explain and you'd be better off and you probably would and I'm sorry to just spring this on you after so very long and I know this is totally bizarre and insane and so far out there it's not even funny and I'm sure you have a million questions and I will answer all of them, I will…

I promise- every last one…" He took a deep, kind of shaky breath, sniffling, pretty brown eyes shifting gold again, just a hint, eyes kind of misty and so very earnest,

"B-but…but I never thought I'd get to see you again and now you're less than a foot away and I don't want to freak you out any more than I already have but I r-really, really need to hug you now so I know it's real too a-"

Alec stood up, reaching over, catching Magnus's hand, tugging him up, pulling him close, wrapping his arms around him tight. Magnus whimpered softly, gasping, wrapping his arms around Alec tightly, squeezing even tighter, nuzzling lightly against his neck, pulling back just enough to press a soft kiss to his cheek before nuzzling back in, burying his face in Alec's neck, breath shaky and uneven against Alec's skin, trembling faintly.

"I-I am SO sorry Alexander…so sorry I left…I didn't do it on purpose, didn't want to, I never wanted to leave you.

I knew the spell to get to you but it only worked with the Amser crystal and he found it and broke it a-and I couldn't get back, I tried- I tried _**so**_ hard- everything I could possibly try. Without it I could get to the right place but not the right time, but I tried…god I tried. I tried every last Amser crystal I could find but it only worked with that one specific one. I tried everything I could possibly think of; learned every last spell, incantation, charm and anything else I could get my hands on but nothing worked…

I tried for years…b-but it was no use…

It was no use…and then it was too late…I couldn't get back…I c-couldn't get to you…but I wanted to…God I wanted to- more than I'd ever wanted anything.

I'd of traded every last ounce of my power in a heartbeat if it'd get me back to you…

B-but I couldn't, I couldn't and I'm sorry, you probably hate me for leaving like that b-"

Alec shook his head, squeezing him tighter, lightly kissing his forehead,

"Shh…it's okay…it's okay Mags. It's alright. I don't hate you- I could never hate you. It's not your fault, it wasn't…it's okay…it's okay…

You're here now.

It's okay.

I got you Mags…it's okay." Magnus sniffled, breath trembling, swallowing, nodding shakily, pulling him in, burying his face in Alec's neck, whimpering softly, squeezing him so tightly Alec could barely catch his breath…

It was more than worth it.

He didn't know what half the things Magnus mentioned were- had no clue what the hell an Amser crystal was or most of the rest but he didn't care…Magnus was here…Magnus was here. He's real; he was real and solid and in his arms…

He didn't care about the rest.

Magnus was right here.

Alec swallowed, taking another deep breath, squeezing him tighter, right arm holding him tight, left hand soothingly rubbing his back, turning his head, pressing a few light, soft kisses along his cheek, up to his temple, nuzzling lightly against his hair, breathing deeply,

_God…he smelled so good…felt so good._

_He was real…Magnus was real…he was real and solid and he was here…_

_Right here…in his arms._

_He never wanted to let go._

They stood there like that for a while, Alec soothingly rubbing his back, holding him as his breathing began to even back out, the trembling stopping, just breathing him in.

Eventually their grip loosened, gentling from the frantic, near death grip type hold to something softer and less desperate. Magnus sighed, nuzzling again against his neck, humming softly right by Alec's ear sending a bit of a shiver though the other man.

Magnus gave a soft chuckle that tickled Alec's neck, grip tightening once more just briefly,

"Hmm…Okay…think I'm good with you being taller than me…"

Alec laughed in surprise, shaking his head, pulling back to look him over again. Magnus blinked, smiling softly, bright glimmering golden feline eyes sparkling and flickering like firelight. Alec swallowed, feeling his breath catch, suddenly weak kneed and slightly giddy,

_God…they're so much more beautiful than he remembered…_

Alec reached up, gently brushing a few strands of incredibly soft, midnight blue hair back behind his ear, lightly tracing over his cheek and jaw. Those beautiful golden eyes flicker brighter, soft and warm. He sighs contentedly, eyes slipping closed, leaning into the touch, rubbing lightly against Alec's hand. Alec gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head,

"Guess it's not just the eyes that are catlike…"

Magnus laughed warmly, shrugging totally unconcerned,

"You wouldn't be the first to tell me that…Clary swears I must be part pisică-persoană.

She still teases me about the time she had to help me out of a tree when my powers fizzled out for about an hour after the thing with a particularly aggressive, _**massively**_ oversized flock of Llên-adars. Admittedly I see the humor but I had just dealt with a fifty strong flock of pissed off, fire breathing, flesh eating, squawking death. You'd think she'd let it go after two centuries…but _noooo_…

Still laughs about me climbing trees and chasing birds.

She's quite cheeky for a demon."

Alec blinked in confusion,

"Umm…"

Magnus paused, thinking over what he just said, glancing up sheepishly, questioningly holding a finger up,

"Uh…t-that sounded rather bizarre by human standards…yes?"

Alec gulped, nodding quickly,

"Umm…yup."

Magnus tilted his head, gorgeous golden eyes flickering over Alec, reaching up, long, elegant fingers tracing lightly along Alec's cheek,

"You're getting that 'I need to sit down' look again...perhaps we s-"

Alec again nodded quickly, pulling slightly away, turning, setting back down. Magnus slinked gracefully into the other, slipping closer, reaching over, lightly rubbing his arm, squeezing gently. Alec reached up, resting his other hand over Magnus's, squeezing. He looked up, trying to think of where to start but coming up blank.

He gave a slightly overwhelmed laugh and kinda helpless shrug,

"Kay, so, I really don't know where to begin. I…so..S-so it's all real? It was real, has been real…all of it? Magic, warlocks, another world- apparently full of what I'm guessing is like cat people and a funny demon and fire-breathing, flesh eating, squawking death…

All of it?"

Magnus sighed, giving a faint shrug, nodding faintly,

"All of it and more…more than you can imagine."

Alec shook his head, blinking faintly,

"I…what…Kay Mags? I-I think you need to start here- I'm so far lost it's not even funny…

Like, I mean just seeing you is amazing, knowing that you're real, t-that I can see you again- that apparently other's can now see you-

That is amazing…but…but if you're real than so is all the rest- all the crazy things you'd tell me about. Amser Crystals, and powers and shapeshifters and those fire scorpion things and blue bellied lizards that breathe fire and why do so many things in your world breathe fire- it seems pretty excessive a-

Wait…

Wait…centuries...

Y-you said this Clary-demon-girl has been teasing you about the cat person in a tree thing for two _**centuries**_…

The last time I saw you we were nine." Alec swallowed, looking him over, searching for some type of explanation, finding none.

Magnus shrugged, nodding slightly, brushing his hair back, fiddling with that oddly distracting dragon earcuff thing,

"Yes…we were…Then. But our worlds weren't really synced time wise. The last time I crossed over it was in the early 1990's here…

In my world it was 1488."

Alec blinked rapidly, uncomprehendingly shaking his head,

"S-so…umm…that makes you…"

He tilted his head,

"I'm five hundred and forty years old."

_Oookay…there goes that head spinney feeling again,_

Alec swallowed, blinking, nodding quickly,

"Uh…w-well…you aged REALLY well." Alec froze, blushing brilliantly, wincing…

_Oh god that was so painfully ba-_

Magnus burst out laughing, the sound bright, warm and dizzying. Alec glanced up, catching those gorgeous, shimmering golden eyes, unable to keep in a bit of a chuckle of his own, settling closer, giving a kind of helpless shrug, waiting out the laughter. Magnus scooted his chair a bit closer, squeezing Alec's arm, trailing down, catching his hand, playing with his fingers, the soft, pretty laugh trailing off, leaving a warm breathtaking smile, and those glimmering eyes sparkling softly like candlelight.

"Well thank you darling, that's very sweet." He paused, leaning a bit closer, eyes flickering, a glimmer of something different and kinda thrilling dancing in those pretty golden eyes. It was bright and exciting, kinda wild and near predatory, making Alec feel dizzy and slightly intoxicated. Magnus swallowed, head tilting, eyes slipping from Alec's eyes all the way down, lingering on his arms, sliding back up, giving a soft, appreciative hum,

"Mmm…so did you gorgeous."

Alec gulped, blushing brightly. Those pretty eyes flashed brighter, excited and curious, head tilting slowly. Alec felt a little shiver run down his spine- T-that look was definitely predatory…focused, excited, almost like he was ready to devour him…

Alec was kinda good with it if he did…

He swallowed, shifting forward a bit, eyes flickering over Magnus, giving a slightly nervous chuckle,

"Umm…I-I think we're back to the cat thing again…kinda look like you're ready to pounce."

Magnus gave a soft, low chuckle, shrugging, eyes flickering like fire,

"And…that is an issue?"

Alec gulped, shifting, fidgeting,

"Uh…I wouldn't say 'issue' so much as 'inappropriate for work.'"

Magnus laughed,

"_**Definitely**_ not the first time I've been called that."

Alec snorted, glancing over him pointedly,

"I bet."

Magnus shrugged, settling closer,

"So, still not much of a rule breaker, hmm?"

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

"Magnus, I'm a detective. Head detective. My job is to enforce the rules; to be sure other people are following them…breaking them would be hypocritical."

Magnus tilted his head, smirking, pretty eyes sparkling bright, quirking his eyebrow playfully,

"Hell of a lot of fun though."

Alec burst out laughing, shaking his head, covering his eyes, cheeks flushing brightly,

"Oh my god…I'm being hit on by my five hundred and forty year old warlock imaginary best friend in the break room of the SBPD…

_And it's working!_

Maybe Raphael was right when he said I was due for a psych eval."

Magnus gave a delighted laugh,

"Ah…but it IS working."

Alec rolled his eyes, glancing back up at him,

"Yes okay…it's working…That being said we should probably put the brakes on it for a bit."

Magnus quirked his eyebrow,

"Because it's against the rules?"

Alec held his hands up,

"No…well yes…but mainly because we are at my work, I'm a detective, and up to like half an hour ago I was kinda under the impression you were…you know, not real."

Magnus smirked, quirking his eyebrow,

"Like a fantasy?"

He laughed, quirking his eyebrow right back,

"Like _Imaginary." _He sighed, settling closer, eyes flickering over the gorgeous man, shaking his head faintly, sobering slightly.

Alec reached over, catching his hand, intertwining their fingers, squeezing firmly. Looking up, meeting those gorgeous golden eyes,

"Come on Mags, I need to know what's going on here. I know why you never came back- you said you ran out of time…said you were trying for years…but I was still here. You started to grow up in the 1490's and I would still be a kid in the 1990's. I understand why you couldn't come back.

I-I understand why you said you decided to try to forget-that you had given up on ever seeing me again…I understand all that…b-but I don't know how that translates to you being here…now."

He saw those pretty golden eyes dim a bit, glancing away. Alec shook his head quickly, scooting closer, squeezing his hand tightly, reaching up with his free hand, catching Magnus's chin lightly, tilting his head back up, thumb tracing along his jaw, again meeting his eyes, shaking his head again,

"Mags, no… I don't mean it like that. I am so happy that you were able to come see me. T-that I'm getting to see you. But y-you've known all this time it was real…I've spent the last two and a half decades thinking the best, most amazing friend I ever had was a figment of my imagination.

And now I have an adult version of said best friend who quite literally seems like a fantasy come true hitting on me in the middle of the SBPD break room…It is a lot to process.

And I am processing. However as I've been a detective for the last eleven years processing means looking at the evidence, going over the facts.

And the fact is you said you had given up on ever getting to see me again- that you thought it would be better for me- too much to explain. And I totally get that, I do. You were trying to protect me. I appreciate that, and I can't imagine how hard of a decision that was for you…I don't think I'd have the willpower to do that.

But clearly you do.

Or did.

But you're here…now…and every instinct I have is telling me the reason is a bit more than just because of a sudden wave of nostalgia and a desire to flirt." He swallowed, squeezing his hand, tilting his head curiously,

"I am SO happy to see you Mags…I really, _really_ am…

But I'm kinda worried about WHY I am.

My instincts are telling me it's something pretty bad."

Magnus sighed, glancing up, meeting his eyes,

"You have very good instincts."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* _Raphael Raphael Raphael Raphael Raphael_ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Raphael waited just long enough at his desk for Alec to get caught up in the conversation with Phineas before subtly snagging his laptop and slipping away from his desk, quickly making his way down the hall towards the file room. He glanced around ensuring the hallway was clear before turning ducking instead the old storage supply room on the opposite side of the hall. It was basically the department's junk room. A few old file cabinets, extra rows of shelving, a couple white boards for when they had big operations and needed to do the whole murder board thing, a couple back up chairs and an old, dusty desk.

It was perfect.

Alright, so he'd told Alec if he needed anything to just come get him but he wasn't exactly holding his breath on that- man was stubborn as hell- one of the things they had in common. True Alec wouldn't hesitate to ask for help if he genuinely thought he needed it but in general a six foot four head detective usually thought he had a pretty good handle on things.

_And __**usually**__ he did…_

But if he didn't Raphael wasn't about to wait till it was too late. Alec said it was fine but he saw that look. The name 'Magnus Bane' totally shocked Alec- it was beyond the last name he ever expected to hear. Alec said they were friends when they were kids and yeah, okay that kinda explained part of the surprise-but not all of it.

He didn't seem excited- he seemed totally baffled, like it was a total impossibility. The way he'd reacted you'd of thought he was back from the dead. Hell Raphael had even went so far as to do a thorough search on the name, half expecting to find an obituary or the like but the name came up clean…more than clean.

There didn't seem to be a record of a Magnus Bane in Santa Barbra…

_Ever._

No birth records, school records, nothing…

He went clear back to the 1970's just to be absolutely sure but came up totally blank.

Alec had lived here all his life. If they were friends there would have to be some kind of record of the kid or his family or something.

But there wasn't. Not so much as a trace.

That was odd.

He flipped the lock on the door, ensuring privacy before winding his way around the whiteboards making his way to the desk, settling his laptop on it, pulling one of the extra desk chairs over, quickly setting to work. He opened his laptop, fingers flickering over the keys, quickly pulling up the backdoor program connecting to the security feeds. He glanced over them locating the one for the break room, pulling the feed up to nearly the full screen, leaving the feeds from the halls going to his hiding place and the hallway leading to the break room in view around the edges, focusing on the biggest image in the center…

Raphael tilted his head, blinking faintly in surprise,

_Huh…_

Did the dude knock over a jewelry store on his way over? A costume shop? Fortune Teller's R Us?

He had at least four necklaces, five rings and an earcuff type thing, admittedly impressively sharp eyeliner, shimmery something or other on his eyelids, cheeks, and lips, WAY too tight jeans with silvery detailing along the seam, a very expensive blue silk shirt, and blue heeled boots.

_Blue. Heeled. Boots…_

_It was THREE in the afternoon!_

Has this guy never heard the expression 'less is more'?

Apparently not…

His motto seemed to be 'More is still not nearly enough- add sparkles'.

_Seriously that was a LOT to process._

Though Raphael had to grudgingly admit the guy did kinda pull it off pretty flawlessly. Definitely no mystery why poor Phineas was so amped up. Raphael had never really gone for the over the top, pretty boy type but the guy was definitely a looker…

_Hmm…_

That might be a bit of an issue.

Alec was a great guy and truly an excellent detective- probably one of the best Raphael had ever known- but he was also just a little naive when it came to flirting and the like. He kinda seemed to have the idiotic idea that he was somehow plain- not ugly, just kinda average.

Raphael blamed Jace.

Well…he blamed Jace for most things…but especially this.

The guy was a self absorbed, over confident jackass 'Actor' on some crappy cop show that should've been canceled within the first five minutes. It'd been going now for five seasons. Jace's 'fan base' has grown to stupid levels and Raphael has lost any faith he ever had in the general population.

Every once in a while he stops by the precinct to get 'tips' on the character- really it's just to annoy his brother, be fawned over by a couple simpering idiots masquerading as beat cops, and so he can claim in every stupid interview that he 'works hard' and 'researches' for 'authenticity' in the roll.

_Ugh…_

_**Jackass.**_

Raphael's pretty sure the bleach he uses on his hair has seeped in, killing off what little brain cells he has. Adopted or not he really cannot believe that is Alec's brother. Jace is a walking headache vaguely disguised as a person with overly blond, overly styled hair, an overly smug smirk and an overly blown ego that would not at all be out of place in a cartoon supervillian.

Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of brain dead idiots who find that very attractive. For reasons totally lost on Raphael people seem to be attracted to Jace, which has kind of left Alec feeling somewhat invisible.

It's rather ridiculous. People notice Alec all the time, almost as much as they notice Raphael, but it doesn't even register to Alec. Add in a total obviousness to near even the most blatant of flirting and a vaguely suspicious nature that generally means even when he does somehow actually manage to pick up on flirting he usually chalks it up to some kind of play or scheme and…yeah…

Raphael's pretty sure HE'S been on more dates than Alec in the time they've been partners…

And he's a snarky, suspicious as hell, asexual that barely dates with faint social issues, a kinda dark sense of humor, a sharp tongue, and a near unyielding case of resting bitch face.

In general Raphael wouldn't really interfere with the guy's personal life but with all the Jace idiocy he kinda sometimes feels that Alec's a somewhat easy mark. He's usually on his game and can keep his head about him but sexual attraction can blind the smartest, most grounded individual. Alec is strong and can handle just about anything thrown at him in near any circumstances. However he knew the guy could be very easily flustered by a pretty face and a little attention (Assuming he actually picked up on it…which just looking at this Magnus dude Raphael gets the feeling he knows probably every trick in the book…and then some…

He may have actually _**wrote**_ the book.)

He knows Alec told him there was nothing to worry about but again- he _saw_ Alec's expression at the mention of the name. Between the surprise and the man himself Raphael isn't super confident in Alec's ability to stay objective enough to adequately gauge the situation.

Which is where Raph's fancy tech footwork comes in.

He settles closer, flickering calculatingly over the sparkly man examining the ridiculous flower explosion Jaden sent him, reading the little note card before seemingly laughing slightly, shaking his head, replacing the card. The man startles as the door opens…

_Kay here we go… _

Damnit, he wishes they had sound as well as picture. The feeds weren't really super clear but he could read lips pretty good, he should be able to pick up at least a bit…add in body language and such and he should be able to get the jist of it…

Alec entered laughing faintly, clearly thinking it was some kind of joke before his eyes landed on this 'Magnus'…he froze.

_Huh…_

Was that a 'damn he's hot' freezing, a 'wow it's been forever' freezing, or an 'uh oh I should run' freeze?

_Damn cheap cameras- he needs to talk to Luke about upgrading the system….of course that would mean admitting he was hacking into the feeds…so…_

_Maybe not…_

Alec looked shocked, kind of disbelieving- but again that could be any of the three options. Magnus curiously enough looked just as surprised…but also very much interested. His eyes traveled slowly all the way down and all the way back up Alec- yeah there was no mistaking that look.

Well…at least Raphael was reasonably sure the dude didn't want to kill his best friend…so that's something.

Kinda looked like he might try to jump him though.

That was somewhat concerning…

_He really did NOT want to see that._

Alec swallowed, shaking his head faintly, fumbling the door closed, not taking his eyes off Magnus, looking some mixed of amazed, confused, disbelieving and slightly fearful.

Magnus hesitantly moved towards him, approaching rather like you would a cornered animal- going by Alec's look that was probably the right approach. Magnus paused just in front of him, beginning to reach for Alec before seemingly thinking better of it, at that angle he could actually make out the odd sparkly man's words,

_Alexander…sweetheart? Perhaps you should sit down darling…you look somewhat unsteady._

Hmm…the only people he's ever heard call Alec 'Alexander' were his parents…he hated that…

Well, usually he did. It didn't seem to faze him now…though that could be because of all the other things fazing him. Guy definitely seemed like he was struggling to believe Magnus was there…

Alec gulped, nodding quickly, making his way over to one of the break room chairs, kind of collapsing into it. Magnus turned, going over to the soda machine, hand hovering over the buttons, hitting the third one down, an odd glimmering purple something or other flickering around his hand…

_Huh…weird…_

He didn't put any money in the machine. He must have some kind of computer jammer type thing.

_Also odd…_

_And kinda useful…_

Raphael makes a mental note to go through the saved footage and be sure there's nothing like that when he uses his. Alec took the soda kind of shakily, downing half the can. Taking a few deep breaths, and another sip. He glances up curiously at what seems to be a laugh from Magnus,

The man smiles softly, nodding towards the can,

_That's still your favorite?_

Alec gave a slight shrug, nodding,

_Some things don't change… _he sighed, eyes slipping slowly over Magnus, swallowing again, taking a deep breath,

_And some really do._

Magnus eyes sparked in surprise, laughing giving a quick nod, gaze slipping appreciatively over Alec,

_Mmm…I'll say they do…_ He chuckled,

_You're taller than me! Don't know if I like that._

Alec gave a slight laugh, shrugging, flashing a sheepish smile,

_Sorry?_

Magnus seemed to near startle at that, gasping, shifting forward towards Alec and unfortunately away from the camera,

"Damnit…" Raphael muttered unable to read Magnus's lips anymore.

And it was clear he was saying a lot. Raphael could just catch glimpses but he was clearly talking a mile a minute, fidgeting forward, everything Raphael could read said the man was unexpectedly near overwhelmed, though he didn't know why. Suddenly Alec stood up, reaching forward, catching Magnus's hand, tugging him up and into a near crushing hug.

Apparently that was all it took, Magnus seemed to near dissolve, wrapping his arms around Alec, shaking, burying his face in his neck, just pulling back enough to kiss his cheek before nuzzling back in.

Raphael couldn't get a clear view of Magnus's lips but he caught a few glimpses here and there, enough to get a few phrases-

_Alexander…so sorry I left…I didn't do it on purpose, didn't want to, I never wanted to-_

_-not the right time, but I tried…god I tried…_

_-It was no use…and then it was too late…I couldn't get back…I c-couldn't get to you…but I wanted to…God I wanted to- more than I'd ever wanted anything…_

_-sorry, you probably hate me for leaving like that b-_

Alec shook his head, squeezing him tighter, lightly kissing his forehead,

_Shh…it's okay…it's okay Mags. It's alright. I don't hate you- I could never hate you. It's not your fault, it wasn't…it's okay…it's okay…_

_You're here now._

_It's okay._

_I got you Mags…it's okay_. Magnus sniffled, breath trembling, swallowing, nodding shakily, pulling him in, burying his face in Alec's neck,

Raphael swallowed, surprised to feel himself a bit choked up.

Okay, he didn't know what was going on here- he had no clue who this Magnus guy was but it was pretty obvious he meant a lot to Alec, and just from the few minutes he could tell Alec meant a lot to him. That was enough for him. So long as the guy didn't hurt Alec he was o-

_Oh crap, where are those idiots going?_

Beginning up the hallway were Officer's Wayne, Phillips, Wilson and Sorenson, clearly making a beeline for the break room.

Damnit!

Raphael quickly fished his phone out, scrawling through his contacts, hitting the four contacts in rapid succession, typing out a quick text-

_**Raphael Santiago: Break Room's occupied.**_

The four faltered at the simultaneous tones from their phones, pulling them out, looking over the texts in confusion, sharing a few nervous, unsure looks.

Raphael chuckled faintly, again beginning to type…

Send...

_**Raphael Santiago: Why are you still standing there? Are you slow readers? Do we need pictures? **_

This time they actually jump at the incoming texts, the four paling, looking around frantically…

_**Raphael Santiago: Do not make me stoop to using emojis…**_

He chuckled at the reaction- Sorenson actually startled so much his phone went flying, he scrambled after it, flailing wildly. He reached down picking up the phone, turning it over carefully examining it for damage…

Raphael smirked,

_**Raphael Santiago: It's okay Sorenson…still works…see?**_

Raphael chuckled, typing out another text on the group line, waiting patiently. Sorenson nearly fumbled the phone again, just barely managing to keep a hold of it, holding it up, showing the text to the other three.

Raphael smirked again, hitting the send button.

_**Raphael Santiago: Brake Room's occupied…Move along**_

They startle again (Oh this is too fun) seeing the text pop up on Sorenson's, feeling theirs chime in time. They falter, looking around kind of wandering towards the other end of the hallway. Raphael, chuckled, shaking his head,

_**Raphael Santiago: No…not that way…back the way you came.**_

They flail, doing a quick about face rushing back down the hall, nearly bumping into the wall in their haste.

Oh that really was far too fun…he probably shouldn't be so cruel to the newbies but he figured they could used a bit of toughening up…and really all that time and not one of them thought to look towards the security camera?

Eh, a little wakeup call would do them good.

He was kinda glad Alec didn't see that though. He gets so snippy when he riles the uniforms. It really is for their own good- they just don't see it. The fact that it's entertaining as hell is really just a delightful bonus…

Oh! Speaking of Alec…

He shifted his focus from the hallway back to the break room camera, trying to catch up on what he missed with his little game.

Huh…looks like he missed a lot.

They're sitting again; Alec looks slightly pale, eyes wide in shock, head shaking faintly in disbelief again, and Magn-

_Wait…what the hell?_

_What's up with his eyes?_

A-are they…? Why do they look like cat eyes? Did he put in contacts while Raphael wasn't looking?

What in th-….

Raphael shook his head faintly, settling closer, suddenly back on high alert. He didn't know what the hell the freaky fire cat eyes thing was but he knew computer feeds- it wasn't a computer glitch, it was something with this Magnus guy…He had a feeling it was not a good thing. Also he may have been a bit too quick to think there was no danger here. He wasn't a superstitious/religiousy type but a person having bizarre animal eyes was NOT a good sign.

H-he didn't know what it WAS but he doubted it was anything positive. At least they were sitting where he could read both of their lips again,

_I-w…Mags…I don't understand….that's…that's j-_

_I know sweetheart, it's a lot, and it's insane and I know it seems absolutely impossible but…well…so is me being here. Getting to see you again…_

He trailed off, shaking his head, odd eyes brightening, almost appearing to glow- Raphael tried to tell himself it was a trick of the light…but if it was it was one hell of a trick.

Magnus shifted forward, squeezing Alec's arm. Alec swallowed, meeting those odd, glimmering eyes head on unflinchingly, reaching up running his thumb lightly along Magnus's cheek. Magnus sighed, eyes closing, leaning into the touch, reaching up with his free hand, resting it over Alec's. He turned his head, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to Alec's palm before turning back, eyes fluttering open, glowing like brilliant dancing flames, there was no mistaking it this time.

Raphael felt a cold chill run down his spine…

**What. The. Hell.**

Magnus swallowed, squeezing Alec's arm, hand trailing down, catching Alec's, intertwining their fingers, squeezing tightly. Raphael caught the odd glimmering violet shimmer again about their hands.

_Sweetheart, I know it's a lot…it is insane but it is true. All of it. It's real. I'M real…I'm real and I'm here and I need your help. Just come with me Alexander. I'll answer all your questions, everything, I swear. But it's far too much to get into here…it really is._

He stood up, tugging Alec up, hugging him once more, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, pulling back slightly, just enough to speak.

_Come on darling…you are the only one who I can trust with this…the only one I can turn to…everything rests on you…on us…please Alexander?_

Raphael swallowed, shaking his head,

Alec took a deep breath, giving a faint nod, meeting Magnus's eyes strong and determined. Raphael just barely holds in a groan. He knows that look all too well…

Alec is in this…whatever 'this' is…

Which means _**Raphael**_ is gonna be right there with him in 'this' too…

Whether they want him there or not…

Stupidly selfless best friend.

_God Damnit…_

Raphael swallows again catching the bizarre, flickering flame like glowing cat eyes, shaking his head faintly.

_Man he hopes that's not literal here…_

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _End Of Chapter Notes_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

Pisică-persoană- Cat- Person-

Llên-adar- dragon-birds

So We're really in the home stretch here

I love Raphael! He's totally my favorite…FYI I know Jace sounds like a total jackass but he…well…okay he probably will be but this IS Raph's view of him so he's probably not quite that bad…

I really like how this whole chapter went…

How about you guys?

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*** 32 ***


	8. Chapter 8- Old Friends, New World

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Chapter 8:

Old Friends, New World

Yay! Very last chapter! This is just gonna be 1 part- I know I usually do 2 (Or more) but the last thing I want is for this to seem drug out and I couldn't resist the ending.

Hope you all like it.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* _Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec_ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

_Oookay…so…_

The last about two hours have been kinda unexpected…

Alright so they've been flat out bat crap crazy.

His childhood imaginary friend shows up out of the blue. His Imaginary _**warlock**_ best friend. All grown up and looking like some kind of fantasy come true.

Hell at first he was kind of thinking that's exactly what it was. That maybe he'd somehow just randomly snapped and was now suddenly hallucinating. Really that made a lot more sense than his no-longer-imaginary-warlock-best-friend just randomly showing up in the break room of his precinct. Showing up AND hitting on him…

Pretty effectively at that…

_Damn…_

He has a mind numbingly gorgeous _literal_ walking fantasy version of his childhood (_**Warlock-**_ can't forget that- cause apparently your normal run of the mill imaginary friend/ figment of your imagination reappearing as a flesh and blood person two and a half decades later just isn't freaking crazy enough) best friend flirting with him. _Aggressively_ flirting…looking at him like he's ready to pounce…

_Like…h-how…how is this NOT a hallucination?_

All the other crazy what-the-hell stuff aside- THAT guy is practically throwing himself at ALEC?

_What?_

That may actually be crazier than the whole imaginary, warlock, magic type thing.

Guys like that do not just randomly hit on him. They just don't. Well unless maybe they're a suspect/potential suspect and are trying to distract him. They don't hit on him _just_ to hit on him.

And that's guys that are like normal levels of gorgeousness.

Magnus is just…

_Damn…_

He is without a doubt the single most beautiful, stunning, dazzlingly gorgeous person Alec has ever seen.

_**Ever.**_

And HE'S looking at Alec like…w-well…probably a lot like Alec's looking back at him.

Seriously how is that NOT some bizarre hallucination/ mental break kinda thing? He'd almost think it was if not for the fact that officer Phineas had not only seen him but actually talked and interacted with him. The man is real- there's no question about that. He's real.

He is real and he IS Magnus…

_His_ Magnus.

There's no question…

The second he saw his eyes he knew.

Magnus was real…Magnus was back…Magnus was mind numbingly freaking gorgeous…and crazily enough Magnus seemed interested in Alec.

His grown up, no longer imaginary, walking fantasy come to life, warlock best friend was hitting on him. And quite frankly he was way more okay with that than he should be.

And that's not even the craziest part of today.

How the hell is THAT not the craziest part of today you ask?

What could possibly be crazier?

Oh well…that would be the reason said no longer imaginary, still-total-fantasy-only-real-warlock has came back.

Apparently the world is ending.

_Both worlds…_

Because it seems that there are in fact more than one and they're both kinda screwed right now.

Or they will be very shortly.

Unless him, his no longer imaginary warlock best friend, a demon girl in another world/dimension/whatever, and two plucky interns can manage to stop it.

Uh…yeah…

Magnus gorgeousness and flirting and dizzyingly pretty eyes aside he would SO prefer this to be a nice, normal mental break right about now.

Also he has suddenly become WAY more sarcastic than usual…

He may be spending too much time with Raphael…

Well…that or in this type of situation the options are either massive amounts of sarcasm, blind, mind numbing panic, or just throwing in the towel and putting in for a 72 hour hold.

He figures between the first two options Sarcasm would be more productive. He'll hold off on option three for as long as possible but he has a feeling it's gonna remain an option clear through this.

This really was j-

"-be driving darling?"

Alec startles faintly, shaking his head, coming back to himself, casting a quick glance over into the passenger seat.

"Hmm?"

Magnus flashed a soft, somewhat anxious smile, head tilting in concern.

"I asked if you are sure you're okay to drive right now? I know this is a rather lot to take in- it's fair to say you could be a bit distracted."

Alec gave a slight huff of a laugh, shrugging.

"Yeah well at the moment we're apparently in a time crunch, we need to get clear out in the middle of nowhere and I'm the only one in the car with a valid driver's license so it's kinda moot."

"I have a driver's license."

"Valid?"

"Yes, of course."

"In THIS universe?"

"Realm."

"Whatever…in this 'realm'?"

"Well…"

"_Exactly._ I'm driving."

Magnus sighed, giving a slight shrug, glancing curiously out the window.

"Really now, diving's driving- it's the same on either side. Hell, I might even be more qualified. Do you know the proper procedures for driving during a Prismatic stardust storm? Or the effect of a sudden magic field fluctuation on the carbonator? Or when to yield to a Wendigo? Hmm?"

Alec blinked, glancing over, shaking his head.

"Umm…no.

"Well I do. Besides I'm older. I've literally been driving since before there were even cars…"

Oh that right- with all the rest of the bat crap craziness he forgot to mention that part. His, mind numbingly gorgeous, flirty, fantasy come true warlock not-so-imaginary friend is also nearly five and a half centuries old.

Because all the rest isn't insane enough…

_Oh my god…he is SO gonna need that 72 hour hold before this day is up._

He sighed, trying his best just to roll with the little random insanities. If he balks, panics and stumbles at every small bizarre thing he will never stop. He has to save that for the big crazy things.

Not like there'll be a shortage of those with this:

Again; the fate of not one but TWO worlds rests on a detective, his warlock not-so-imaginary friend, a demon girl communicating via magic mirror, and two twenty something interns…

_Yeah…definitely need to pick the crazy battles._

He shrugged faintly,

"Well the stardust storm/magic field/Wendigo things are irrelevant as we don't have them on this side and driving longer doesn't automatically mean better or safer. That is why driver's licenses need to be renewed.

Okay I can't j…. I have to ask; when do you 'yield to a Wendigo?"

Magnus quirked his eyebrow.

"When they're in the crosswalk of course."

Alec groaned.

Aaannd on that note we're done with the driving debate…It's my car. Besides driving helps."

Magnus glanced over, flashing a faint smile.

"Okay darling if you insist. Must admit you're handling this quite a bit better than I thought you would."

Alec shook his head.

"I don't know about that. Think I might be in denial, focusing on small things to avoid getting lost and overwhelmed by the big picture. Right now I'm trying to just focus on things that are pretty inconsequential and relatively normal and that I have some vague type of control over. Things like Driving, making sure I don't miss any of the turns, the rules of the road…things like that.

I'm purposefully trying not to think too long about multiple worlds or universe hopping not-so- imaginary warlocks or a vale between worlds or it falling or what it falling would mean.

I'm just trying to focus on the small, easily controlled things I know something about. Those little glimpses of normalcy and sanity that can help to ground me. And I figure I better focus on them while I can as I have a feeling the longer this goes the fewer and further between the little breaks of normalcy and sanity will be."

Magnus sighed faintly, a giving a somewhat apologetic look and a faint nod.

"Sorry to say I believe you are quite right on that…you really do have exceptional instincts."

Alec snorted,

"Yup…so long as you don't count survival instincts."

That surprised a laugh out of Magnus. He glanced over, flashing a warm smile, shaking his head.

"It is rather buoying that you are keeping a sense of humor about this…I think that will help quite a lot."

Alec shrugged,

"Eh crying and panicking is a waste of time. Better to laugh at a situation or attack head on. Being scared isn't gonna get you through- being amused or pissed off might."

Magnus chuckled, giving an approving, surprised nod.

"That's usually my way of thinking. Doesn't really sound like you though…kind of thought you were of the logical, think things through mindset."

Alec nodded,

"I am. That's Raph's way of handling things. Well minus the flirting and quasi supervillianish mind games. His general way is flirt, confuse, intimidate, and subvert. Sometimes simultaneously….okay…most of the time simultaneously.

I'm pretty sure he's a black cape, eye patch and shark tank away from being an actual supervillian. Figure my style isn't gonna work so well with this insanity…may as well give his a shot."

Magnus gave a bright laugh, eyes widening.

"Wow…sounds like something else. He's your partner right? Phineas mentioned him and I saw the flowers in the break room…

Definitely seems interesting."

"That's one way to put it. He's definitely one of a kind. Thank god- Don't think the world could handle more than one of him."

Magnus glanced over, flashing a soft smile, tilting his head curiously.

"You two are quite close yes?"

Alec nodded,

"He's my best friend…and the best partner I've ever had. I trust him with my life."

"I'm glad darling. Good to know you have such support. I do hope during my time here I get a chance to meet him."

"Yeah…I don't know about that."

Magnus tilted his head.

"You don't want me to meet him?"

Alec sighed, shaking his head,

"No Mags, it's not that. It's just it would be very, very complicated. Guy's suspicious as hell- he catches everything- and I mean _**everything**_. I swear he's a human lie detector. He can read people better than anybody I've ever met…anyone…but me in particular. Sometimes I think he knows more about me than I do.

He meets you- sees you? Yeah when he latches onto something he's damn near unshakable. I mean I think the sheer insanity of this whole thing will provide a bit of cover but…hell…it's _Raph_.

He won't give up until he gets the truth.

And he will find the truth, regardless of how bat crap crazy said truth is. Once he meets you and the wheels start turning- it wouldn't be a matter of 'if' he finds out but 'when'.

Honestly whether I want him to meet you or not it's probably a moot point. I probably should just tell him rather than wait till he figures it out on his own…but…geez. I don't know how I'd even begin to explain this to him…or anyone for that matter. I mean it's a lot and it's insane and seems like the kind of thing you want to kinda limit the public knowledge of as the last thing we need is it getting out and people panicking. I think with this the fewer people on this side in the loop the better.

Honestly he's probably already suspicious with my reaction and you showing up out of nowhere…he may have already started snooping. If that's the case then…umm…yeah I'm thinking we got maybe a week tops before telling him is unavoidable.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume this'll probably take a bit longer than a week.

So…you know…"

"It's complicated." Magnus supplied.

Alec huffed, nodding.

"Yup…"

Magnus sighed, giving a faint wave.

"Well he is your friend and it is your decision. I understand it's an insane amount to lay on someone or even get them to believe. I had no clue how telling you would go.

However if you genuinely think him finding out it's all but a foregone conclusion then perhaps telling him outright is a better move than letting him try to piece it together on his own."

Alec shrugged, tilting his head consideringly.

"True…but I really don't know how I'd even go about telling him. I mean what do I say?"

"Well…I'd think the most straightforward way would be best."

Alec scoffed, quirking his eyebrow,

"What?

'Hey Raph, so this is my not-so-imaginary-friend Magnus Bane…he's a warlock from another universe and he's here in hopes that I can help him save the world…'" He trailed off, chuckling faintly, giving a slight, flippant gesture, continuing,

"I mean usually the logical, rational truth route is me all the way. However as I am currently driving to a seemingly abandoned warehouse/crazy universe jumping magical annex just inside Rattlesnake canyon to team up with a five hundred and forty year old warlock, a demon girl in a magic mirror and two interns to find a way to save the world_**s**_\- _plural-_

Uh yeah…I'm gonna take a wild guess that 'logical' and 'rational' aren't really gonna be options too often here."

Magnus laughed, nodding,

"Good point. Probably best to ease into that at least a bit. In any case we have a bit of time to prepare we don't really have to deal with that right this second." He shifted forward, pointing over to the glimpse of metal through a cluster of straggly trees and scruffy, overgrown underbrush.

"We're here; my Annex is right in that thicket. Start with step one- meeting our help and showing you around the annex, then we can go from there. We can just take it one step at a time. As you said focus on the smaller, less insane parts- the things we can control.

Do what we can, handle things as they come, make it up as we go."

Alec glanced over, quirking his eyebrow.

"That…doesn't really seem very well thought out."

"It's not…not at all…that's precisely why it'll work. The more planning and effort you put into doing something one way the less likely you are to be able to adapt if it goes another."

"So…you're plan is basically 'don't plan'?"

Magnus shrugged unconcerned,

"That's my way."

Alec snorted,

"That's chaos…"

"No…it's _organized_ Chaos, totally different." He reached over, catching Alec's hand, squeezing before turning back popping his door, climbing out, waving for Alec to follow suit.

"Now come along sweetheart. I really am quite eager for you to meet the others."

Alec hesitated a moment before taking a deep breath, opening his door, slipping out of the car coming moving over next to Magnus. He shook his head faintly, giving a faint huff of a laugh at a random fleeting thought.

Magnus tilted his head curiously.

"What?"

He shook his head again giving a faint shrug.

"Nothing, just…you know I've been a detective for over a decade. I'm generally about the most rational, overly cautious, suspicious, bordering on boring, person you're ever likely to meet.

In general a self-proclaimed 'warlock' attempting to lure unsuspecting men into a remote, abandoned warehouse seems less 'hey we're gonna team up to save our worlds' and more the part of the slasher movie where you're yelling frantically at the characters."

"Oh that's not…w…well…okay fair point. But just so you know? I promise this really isn't that."

Alec gave a surprised laugh, shaking his head in disbelief, dropping his head into his hand, shaking it once more before peeking back up at Magnus.

"You know the really troubling part?"

"Hmm?"

"Compared to the sudden reality of Magic, warlocks, demons, cat people, _**way**_ too many fire breathing things and a multiple world endangering catastrophe threatening to forever alter everything we've ever known to be true One loan, delusional slasher in an abandoned warehouse sounds pretty manageable.

How has my life reached a point where 'deranged, delusional psychopath' is the LESS dangerous option?"

Magnus chuckled, giving a slight shrug, looping his arm around Alec's beginning towards the building, patting his arm lightly.

"Well I hate to disappoint you sweetheart, but I'm not a deranged, delusional psychopath. Just your normal-insanely powerful- five hundred and forty year old warlock/ not-so-imaginary-after-all friend out to find the truth, kick ass, save the worlds and look fabulous doing it."

Alec chuckled, rolling his eyes,

"Are you always this overconfident?"

"Sweetheart it only seems like 'overconfidence' to those unfamiliar with me…I'm actually quite modest."

Alec snorted,

"Oh please…you're about as 'modest' as I am straight."

Magnus smirked, eyes slipping over him, flashing a playful, flirty wink.

"Hmm…very good to know gorgeous…though while I may not be 'modest' as point of fact I'm really not overconfident. Not in the least."

Alec shrugged,

"Alright, I'll bite-if you're not 'overconfident' than what are you?"

Magnus smirked, eyes sparking bright, leaning in, looking up at him through his lashes.

"I'm just that good."

Alec gulped, flushing clear to his ears, steps faltering a bit before getting a hold of himself, shifting forward quickly to open the door for them.

"Hey what'd we agree about t-"He trails off, blinking uncomprehendingly.

Magnus gasped, letting go of his arm rushing into the room, Alec slowly took a few hesitant steps inside. He didn't dare go any further though.

_Umm…o-okay…if…uh…if he was having any lingering doubts of the 'magic' thing this kinda knocked those out._

The place is total chaos. There's a churning mass of neon colored clouds swirling overhead, shimmering iridescent multicolored sparkles raining down, shifting and swirling with the circulating wind. The circulating wind from the small _literal_ tornado swirling in the near center of the room. Small objects, books and papers were caught in the updraft, spinning around erratically.

Magnus darted forward, snapping his fingers, a brilliant violet aura glimmering to life dancing up his arms and around his shoulders.

_Oh Woah!_

"What in th-"

"Oh Magnus dude! Thank god you're back!" A slightly panicked voice said from a stack of shelves to the left of the entryway, a guy stumbling out. Magnus tuned to the guy, animatedly gesturing around.

"Simon! W-"

"Dude I don't even know okay? I was just looking around and I kind of stumbled and caught myself on a shelf only it wasn't just the shelf cause my elbow caught this pretty crystal snowglobe type thing and it started to fall but I managed to catch it but just barely and I thought it was okay but then the bottom of it fell off and then there was a big like _**'whoosh' **_kinda thing and then it was just a freaking neon rainbow glitter explosion and I'm sorry I swear I'll be more careful or like sit outside when you leave or whatever you want but can you please find some way to make it stop? I've swallowed way too much glitter for it to be healthy! I really am sor-"

Magnus waved him off, shaking his head,

"No time, I can stop it but we need to find the globe, both pieces. The globe is very hard to see without the glitter inside, look carefully."

Simon nodded, ducking down, frantically scouring the floor, Magnus following suit. Alec moved further in shifting around them, trying to see if anything caught his eye.

Huh…okay think…ignore the crazy, focus on the stuff you can actually handle…on the stuff you know.

Okay be logical.

Just use a bit of logic.

To find the magic snow globe to stop the glitter tornado.

_Oookay then…_

He shook his head, moving closer, quickly circling around the perimeter, moving in systematically, looking for anything to catch his eye.

"Got the base! Still need the globe. Do be careful, it's pretty sturdy but if someone steps on it it will likely break. If that happens I have a back up spell but it involves thirty different ingredients, fire, three drops of viperfish venom which is very toxic and requires precise handling which does not work in a tornado, more fire, and that blue book that's caught at the top of the tornado…so…we want to stick with plan A.

Find the damn globe and watch where you step!"

Alec nodded, shifting lower, moving further into the glitter storm, kind of shuffling more than walking to avoid stepping on the globe. It was getting harder and harder to see though. The stuff thankfully wasn't gritty or irritating physically but it was near disorienting- the light catching, flashing and sparking against the prismatic specks making his head spin…geez.

No wonder Mags said it was difficult to find. How could you see anything in this? I mean he was looking for glass- it would stand to reason just look for something to catch the light…but right now everything was catching in the damn light! I mean really w-

He startled as his foot caught something, stumbling faintly.

"Oof!"

_Oh crap! That was a person._

He shifted down where it was easier to see, settling on the ground, glancing over the young man with the startled wide golden eyes.

"Sorry…Simon right?"

He nodded, big, bright eyes widening even more, looking pleading and so apologetic,

"Yeah- I am so sorry! I didn't mean to do this I j-"

"Simon, it's alright, it's an accident- they happen. It's fine, no one's hurt, we just need to fix it okay?"

He nodded. Alec smiled quickly, squeezing his shoulder,

"Okay which shelf did you bump into? Maybe we can narrow it down that way?"

Simon sniffled faintly, nodding, gesturing over towards the right hand wall.

"R-right over there by the one with the scrolls and the crystals."

Alec nodded, settling next to him, beginning to move, Simon following along. Alec moved somewhat slowly, carefully feeling in front of them before progressing.

Alright just go nice and slow, methodically. If he knocked it off the shelf then it's likely somewhere near the shelf…unless the freaking glitter tornado ended up throwing it somewhere…cause that's…no…focus.

_Okay so maybe it wa-_

"Hey! I found it!" Simon exclaimed, glancing over at Alec, holding it up with a beaming smile.

Alec nodded, flashing a reassuring smile back, glancing over through the glitter storm.

"Hey Mags! We got it!"

"Good! Now where are you?"

"Over on the left, by the shelf with the crystals!"

"Coming your way!"

Alec moved just in time to see the torrent of glitter shift, parting, a glimmering electric violet aura flashing and sparking cutting through the chaos, flashing gold eyes glowing bright.

Alec swallowed…

_Woah…_

Magnus slipped close, reaching out for the globe. Simon quickly held it up.

"I'm S-"

"Not now Simon, find something to hold onto, both of you. I'm fine, I have the globe, I'm clear but if you don't you're liable to get sucked into the globe as well…

It is not fun."

Alec nodded, shifting back, hooking one arm around the shelf firmly, reaching over with the other catching Simon slipping around him.

Magnus glanced over, flashing a quick nod before turning back to the task at hand, snapping his fingers, tapping the side of the globe, eyes glowing even brighter. He tilted his head, voice picking up, soft and velvety, words rolling and lilting- some odd, exotic language that was totally unlike anything Alec had ever heard.

The glitter rotated, faster and faster, turning swirling and churning. Magnus turned the globe, the open part pointing towards the glitter tornado. It shifted, the bottom pulling up away from the ground, shifting towards the globe. The winds intensified, Alec pulled Simon closer, shifting faintly, briefly letting go of his grip on Simon, just long enough to catch the other side of the Shelf, moving his entire body between Simon and the storm, shielding the younger man as best he could.

The wind intensified, clouds overhead shifting moving into the tornado, speed picking up, Alec swears he sees flashes of lightening overhead. Simon makes a slightly whimpering like sound ducking down a bit, moving closer.

The wind howls and snaps sounding almost like an angry, deranged animal, Alec hears scratching noises, some of the furniture sliding across the floor. Alec jolts as the shelf they're braced against lurches forward a bit, Simon whimpers, eyes squeezing shut tightly.

Suddenly there's a loud clap of thunder, a deafening pop and abrupt, dead silence. Alec startles, glancing around, blinking in confusion. He startles again when his eyes land on Magnus, a near playful smirk on his pretty lips, eyebrow quirked impishly.

"Hmm…should I be jealous?"

Alec blinked, in confusion,

"Huh?"

Magnus chuckled, eyes flickering down at Simon before shifting back up, meeting Alec's eyes.

Alec huffed rolling his eyes exasperatedly.

"We were just nearly killed by a storm of glitter- is this really the time for jokes?"

Magnus waved him off,

"Oh we would have been fine- it wouldn't have killed us. Even getting sucked into the globe isn't deadly, just a pain.

When even I think it's too much sparkle you know it's bad."

Alec shook his head, letting go of the shelves, reaching up, nudging Simon's shoulder, shifting to the side a bit.

"Hey…it's over, it's fine Simon."

Simon shook his head, pulling back slightly, wide golden brown eyes blinking open, looking slightly wet and oh so forlorn.

"No it's not! Magnus left me alone for two hours and I wreaked the place! Just two hours. He's gonna have to deal with me for almost two months and I couldn't even make it two freaking hours without screwing up!"

Magnus sighed, shifting closer, shaking his head.

"Simon it's not that bad."

He scoffed, shaking his head, giving a flippant wave,

"Not that bad?! Magnus you couldn't leave me alone for two hours without me screwing up. You have enough to deal with here- you don't need my clumsiness to add to it. I couldn't even go two hours without breaking something."

"Darling it really is fine. You didn't break it. The damn things actually supposed to do that- it was a prank an idiot friend of mine I'm no longer speaking to gave me. He knew I'd never be able to resist the pretty sparkly glitter thing.

I didn't know it was here- I didn't even know I still had it…

Actually I shipped it back to him…

He must have snuck it back in here and hid it the last time he was in town. It really is okay."

He sniffled faintly, glancing up, blinking, taking a hesitant step towards Magnus.

"Really?"

Magnus nodded, smiling. reaching over, slipping his arm around Simon's shoulders.

"Yes sweetheart it really is."

He relaxed a bit, before looking around, shaking his head.

"Oh but this is such a mess…I'll cle-"

Magnus chuckled, raising his hand giving a quick snap, everything instantly shifting back into place, looking picture perfect.

"Darling, I'm the most powerful warlock in our realm-and my parties are legendary. You think I don't know a cleanup spell? Please.

As I said- it's fine darling…" He paused, shifting from Simon over to Alec flashing a bright smile.

"Now that we have the surprise introduction to magic thing out of the way. This Alexander is my Annex- Quite literally where the Magic happens."

Simon giggled faintly at the cheesy line, relaxing a bit, Alec rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Wow that was bad…thought you were better at the flirting thing?"

Magnus grinned,

"Gorgeous you asked me to stop- wanted to 'put the brakes on that'. Second you're ready for me to shift back into gear just say the word."

Alec chuckled, blushing faintly.

"Umm…yeah…t-think we need to deal with one crazy thing at a time here- and there's already a lot of crazy to deal with."

Magnus smiled giving a slight shrug before shifting, gesturing dramatically around the room.

"So what do you think of our 'save the world bunker'? Otherwise known as my annex."

Alec chuckled, shrugging, looking around, taking in the seemingly endless array of shelves, the blood red cauldron in the corner and the rows upon rows upon rows of who the hell knows what. He shook his head, glancing up shrugging, going with the only part of the place that he even knew how to describe.

"It's really something else…definitely suits you. Can't believe your 'save the world Annex' is disguised as a creepy old abandoned building in the middle of rattlesnake canyon…"

Magnus grinned, shrugging unconcerned.

"Well darling that's the genius of it. I figure no one would bother looking into it…it seems to make sense."

"You're right it does…well…unless of course someone sees their partner being led into said creepy old abandoned building by a mysterious stranger who showed up out of nowhere, clearly spooking said partner." A voice says from the doorway,

Alec, Magnus and Simon startle, whirling towards the voice. Raphael leans casually against the door, quirking his eyebrow, eyes shifting over the three, before settling back on his partner.

"So Alec…You gonna tell me what's going on here?"

Alec blinks, swallowing...

"Umm…w-well…"

He tilted his head, waiting.

"Yes…?"

Alec took a deep breath, going with the first thing that popped in his mind…

"Hey Raph, so this is my not-so-imaginary-friend Magnus Bane…he's a warlock from another universe and he's here in hopes that I can help him save the world…"

The End… …For Now*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* _Notes_ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Okay I know it was an oddball kinda place to end but I really couldn't resist. A few of my 1st couple stories are gonna be one or two partners…It's not just to ensure people keep reading I promise.

The stories just fall into two distinct parts and rather than dragging it out an insane amount I'd rather do it like this.

We have lots more coming in this verse- 9 more stories- I have them all planned out…I don't want to give away too much but I want to give a bit of a hint what's coming so Here's the titles for the rest of the series- I'd like to see what you guys think is coming.

_**2- The Girl In The Mirror-**_

_**3- Simon Discovers Scifi-**_

_**4- Field Trip-**_

_**5- Jace, You Are Such A**__**…**__**-**_

_**6-When Dreams Meet Reality-**_

_**7- I'm In Love (With The Girl In The Mirror)**_

_**8- The Ghosts Of The Past-**_

_**9-A Valed Threat-**_

_**10- The Path To Hell (Is Paved With Good Intentions)-**_

_So…you curious?_

I know it's a bit slower going with all the verses going at once but I really love doing it like this.

Thank you guys so much for reading and commenting-it really does make a huge difference. You guys are amazing!

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*** 24 ***


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